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A STUDY OF 
LATIN HYMNS 



ALICe KING Mac GILTON 




Class CM 4 



Book._U 






Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



BADGER'S CLASSICAL 
STUDIES 

The Crimes of the Oedipodean 
Cycle. By Henry N. Bowman. 

A Study of Virgil's Descriptions 
of Nature. By Mabel Louise 
Anderson. 

Deception in Plautus, A Study in 
the Technique of Comedy. By 
Helen E. Wieand. 

A Study of Latin Hymns. By 
Alice King MacGilton. 

Latin Stems and English De- 
rtvitives for Caesar. By Madge 
De Vore. 

Lyric Songs of the Greeks. By 
Walter Petersen. 

Selections from Catullus. By 
Mary Stewart. 



RICHARD G. BADGER, PUBLISHER, BOSTON 



A STUDY OF 
LATIN HYMNS 



ALICE KING MacGILTON, A. M. 




I^gn^^rf^i 



BOSTON 

RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 



Copyright, 1918, by Richard G. Badger 



All Rights Res«rved 



4-4*8 



50831 



MADE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



Thb Gobham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 

SEP II 1918 



To 

MYRON REED SANFORD, L. H. D. 

of the Latin Department 

of mlddlebury college 



PREFACE 

' I ''HIS volume is the result of a critical reading of over 

■*- eight hundred Latin hymns, psalms, and canticles. 
The treatment of the subject is as nearly chronological 
as the nature of the material permits, thus making it a 
suitable compendium for a brief study of this minor but 
unique part of Latin literature. The notes and lists of 
hymns in the appendix are arranged for convenience of 
reference with titles or first lines in alphabetical order, 
the source — author, breviary or period — and a place where 
each hymn may be found. Great uncertainty prevails as 
to authorship and date of many of the hymns although 
approximation to a period is generally to be trusted. 

While the commentary is intelligible to a reader not 
familiar with the Latin, a sufficient number of hymns in 
the original are given to make it a collection representative 
of the principal styles and the important periods so that 
it may be used as a collateral text-book in the study of 
lyrics of the post-classic ages. 

The work is without doctrinal bias; its chief interest, 
however, lies in the fact that although pursued in a purely 
historical way, it reveals the value of the Christian hymns 
as human documents. In the expression of religious feel- 
ing, hymn-writers of periods and places remote from each 
other are bound by an indissoluble bond which as in- 
timately unites our time and theirs. 

The book has been read by several competent judges 
and the Latin citations have been kept as free as possible 
5 



6 Preface 

from errors, but the reader must remember that varia- 
tions in spelling are not uncommon in mediaeval manu- 
scripts and their reprints. A complete bibliography of 
Latin and English works consulted by the author is print- 
ed in the appendix. Special mention should be made of 
S. W. Duffield's complete list of English translators and 
grateful acknowledgment to Professor Raymond H. 
White for reading the Latin text. 

Alice King MacGilton. 
Middlebury, Vermont 
March, 1918. 



CONTENTS 

Page 

The Biblical Origin of Hymns 9 

The Expression of Faith in the Hymns 12 

The Eastern Hymns 13 

The Ambrosian Period 18 

The Fifth Century 22 

The Sixth Century 28 

The Seventh Century 32 

The Eighth Century 33 

The Ninth Century 34 

Mediaeval Music 36 

The Tenth Century 42 

The Dawn of the Modern Age 44 

The Twelfth Century 48 

The Age of the Giants 54 

The Last of the Latin Hymns 60 

Collections of Hymns 65 

The Value of Latin Hymns 67 

Appendix 

I English Versions 71 

II Breviaries 71 

III Hymns of the Roman Breviary 72 

IV Dates of Published Translations 74 

7 



8 Contents 

Page 

V The Seven Great Hymns 75 

VI he Paroissien Note 75 

VII Hymns of the "Goeleste Palmetum" 76 

VIII Plain Chant 77 

English Translations 

Dies Irae 79 

Oratio 81 

De Resurrectione 81 

Index of Latin Hymns 85 

Supplement 100 

Index Psalmorum , 104 

Novum Testamentum 109 

Bibliography ill 



A STUDY OF LATIN 
HYMNS 

The Biblical Origin of Hymns 

THE Hebrew songs and the Christian hymns in 
Greek were the source from which issued a wealth 
of Latin hymns after the Roman Empire made Latin the 
official language of the western world. The Biblia Sacra, 
Vulgatae Editionis gave to the Christians of the Roman 
Empire at the end of the fourth century the great gift of 
the Scriptures in a language which all understood. Sex- 
tus V and Clement VIII furthered the growth of Chris- 
tianity by sending forth this version of the Bible, Biblia 
Sacra jussu recognita atque edita. It is illuminating even 
yet to the reader. The songs of Moses and of Deborah, 
of Hannah and of the Prophets take on a new meaning. 
The unapproachable Psalms of David shine with a new 
luster from the familiar "Beatus vir, qui non abiit in con- 
silio impiorum" down to the last Psalm an Alleluia, "Lau- 
date Dominum in Sanctis ejus, Omnis spiritus laudet 
Dominum." A broader and deeper revelation of spiritual 
power is made by expression in the Latin, a language un- 
excelled in force, clearness, and elegance. 

First among Christian songs of praise stand the Mag- 
nificat, (St. Luke I 46-55) the Benedictus, (St. Luke I 
68-79) and the Nunc Dimittis, (St. Luke II 29-32). 
9 



10 A Study of Latin Hymns 

In the Epistles of St. Paul we find what are believed to 
be traces of hymns in Ephesians V 14: 

"Surge qui dormis 
et exsurge a mortuis, 
et illuminabit te 
Christus" 

and 1 Timothy III 16: 

"Et manifeste magnum est 
pietatis sacramentum 
quod manifestum est in came, 
justificatum est in spiritu, 
apparuit angelis, 
praedicatum est Gentibus, 
creditum est in mundo, 
assumptum est in gloria" 

and I Timothy VI 15-16: 

"Rex regum, et Dominus dominantium: 
qui solus habet immortalitatem, 
et lucem inhabitat inaccessibilem: 
quern nullus hominum vidit, sed nee videre potest: 
cui honor, et imperium sempiternum. Amen." 

In the account of the last supper an allusion is made to 
a hymn which authorities say, must have been the Great 
Hallel, the Psalms used at the Paschal feast, Psalms 
CXIII to CXVIII. Psalms CXIII and CXIV were 



A Study of Latin Hymns II 

sung before the feast and Psalms CXV-CXVIII, after. 
They begin with the "Laudate, puer'i, Dominum," then 
proceed through the "Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed 
nomini tuo da gloriam" to the reiterated refrain of Psalm 
CXVIII "quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus." These 
Psalms, doubtless sung in the Hebrew by the little band 
of disciples and their Master, were afterwards incor- 
porated in Christian worship and repeated in the ser- 
vices of the mediaeval church in the Latin of the Vulgate 
for a thousand years. St. Jerome says it was the habit 
of Christians to sing everywhere. The custom may have 
been due to a reaction from the repression of times of 
persecution when only under the earth Christians could 
sing unmolested their "hymns to Christ as God." In the 
Acts Paul and Silas in prison "orantes laudabant Deum" 
and earlier as a result of the testimony of Peter and John 
those who heard them 

" unanimiter levaverunt vocem ad Deum et dixerunt: 
'Domine, Tu es qui fecisti coelum et terram 
mare et omnia quae in eis sunt/ " 

A quotation from the second Psalm follows, then the 
recognition of Jesus as the annointed (Christus) and a 
prayer for manifestation of power through his name, 
"per nomen sancti filii tui Jesu." 

The Old and New Testaments are full of songs of 
praise. The Pentateuch begins with a poem on the crea- 
tion which might easily be chanted and the New Testa- 
ment closes with a wonderful paean of the victory of the 
Overcomer and a song of the glories of the New Je- 



12 A Study of Latin Hymns 

rusalcm. The resemblance in the use of words, phrases, 
metaphors, and historic allusions between the language of 
the Vulgate and of the Latin hymns is too great to be 
accidental. The inspiration of one is the real inspiration 
of the other. Especially true is it of the early hymns that 
they are objective. They address the Deity and in ascrip- 
tions of praise voice the scriptural idea of the divine at- 
tributes. They describe facts in Bible history, they cele- 
brate great deliverances, but above all they dwell on every 
detail of the life of the Redeemer as the truest method 
of singing the song of the Redeemed. Later we find the 
teachings of the Church Fathers influencing the subject- 
matter of the hymns, especially those of St. Augustine and 
still later of the powerful thinker Thomas Aquinas who 
left his mark upon the songs of his own and subsequent 
times. 

The Expression of Faith in the Hymns 

Only when the singers lose faith in the triumphs of the 
Faith does the song cease. We cannot praise unless the 
gifts and graces we laud are realities to us. The joyful 
assurance of other people rings hollow in the verse of the 
indifferent or the incredulous. Music demands truth. 
It cannot pretend to emotions it does not feel; the result 
of such attempts is plainly pretense and not emotion. One 
of the great charms of the early Latin hymns is their 
sincerity. The writers speak of that which they believe 
and also, as far as their personal experience can go, of 
what they know. While the doctrinal element found in 
the hymns of the periods of the struggle with heresies and 



A Study of Latin Hymns 13 

the establishment of Church creeds and dogmas does not 
increase their poetical value, yet some attain sublimity in 
the larger views taken of truth although they lose neces- 
sarily in spontaneity. The profounder problems of the- 
ology are, naturally, not fitted to song. 

The increasing number of days devoted to the memory 
of saints and martyrs inevitably changed the tone of the 
hymns. A song expressing veneration of Martha, of 
Ursula, of Ambrose is of necessity less impressive than 
one that gives voice to adoration of the true God, the 
Trinity in Unity. When the hymns wander from the 
loftiest subject of Christian praise they often become 
fanciful, far-fetched, and merely curiosities of literature. 
As a rule the Breviaries preserve those hymns that have 
the vital quality of feeling founded on faith. It is an 
instance of the law of survival. The hymns that live, 
those that are sung in many tongues and various com- 
munions, are as true an expression of religious emotion 
to-day as they were a thousand and more years ago. 

The Eastern Hymns 

Latin hymnody, the daughter of the songs of praise of 
the Old and New Testaments, was in its beginning in- 
spired by the hymns of the East where Christianity had 
its birth. Very marked is the change from the beautiful 
Pagan songs of the Greeks where the mere mention of 
death is avoided, to the joy of the Christian poet whose 
eye could look calmly on death, penetrating its veil to see 
the glories of the everlasting life. The Eastern hymns 
are aglow with the love of Christ and full of the hope 



14 A Study of Latin Hymns 

and peace which faith in Him gave. An oriental dox- 
ology illustrates this characteristic: 

"God is my hope, 
Christ is my refuge, 
The Holy Spirit is my vesture, 
Holy Trinity, Glory to Thee." 

The three great early hymns of the Christian Church, 
of unknown date and authorship, probably were written 
in the Greek language originally, the "Ter Sanctus" of all 
Catholic Communion services, the "Gloria in excelsis" 
(which to the Angels' Song adds a "Miserere" and a 
"Gloria' 3 ) and the "Te Deum laudamus" the most nearly 
perfect of all ancient songs of praise. Manuscripts which 
contain them in Latin are not early, but as crystallizations 
of worship, they point to a very early age and doubtless 
were developed gradually into the accepted form, and then 
passed down from father to son, and preserved by a use 
as constant as that of our time. Mrs. Charles well says: 
"Three hymns and three creeds have come down to us 
and have been incorporated into our Liturgy. In the 
preservation of the Holy Scriptures we recognize with 
adoration the controlling hand of God and we also may 
attribute to his merciful providence that through those 
centuries, when so many would receive no spiritual food 
except through the external Church, anything so pure and 
life-giving should have been enshrined in her daily offices, 
as the Creeds of the Apostles, of Nice and of Athanasius, 
and these three most sublime hymns of Christendom." 
There is a tradition that Ambrose and Augustine sang 



A Study of Latin Hymns 15 

responsivcly the "Te Deum" in the Latin at the confirma- 
tion of St. Augustine. The most credible theory is that 
it was made up of several Oriental hymns as it is at once 
a hymn, a creed, and a prayer; and that it was first used 
by Ambrose who improved the ritual of the West by many 
musical innovations. 

Whatever the facts of the origin of these famous hymns, 
the East made some beautiful contributions to hymnody. 
Mrs. Charles gives translations of thirty of them in her 
book, The Voice of Christian Life in Song. The first 
writer of Christian hymns in any tongue is Clement of 
Alexandria, a convert to Christianity at the close of the 
second century, who appended a hymn in Greek, O Thou, 
the King of Saints, to a learned treatise entitled Paeda- 
gogus. 

The Syriac hymns of Ephraem Syrus are given in Ger- 
man in Daniel's Thesaurus. The lament of a father on 
the death of his little son, a hymn which it was customary 
in early times to sing at the funerals of children, is at- 
tributed to him. His hymn for Palm Sunday is excellent. 
Mrs. Charles has a translation of it. The last stanza in 
her version is : 

"Let every village, every city 

In happy tumult sing His name, 
Since even infant lips are shouting, 
'Blessed is He the King who came.' " 

Theodoret speaks of Ephraem's songs as very sweet and 
profitable. He is said to have added to his stanzas a fifth 
line to be sung by different voices as a refrain and called 
the ephymnium. 



1 6 A Study of Latin Hymns 

One more Eastern hymn writer must be mentioned, 
Gregory of Nazianzum, a devout monk who was called 
from a life of solitary devotion to be the Patriarch of 
Constantinople in 380 A. D. From vigils, psalmodies, and 
departures to God in prayer, Gregory entered into the 
active struggle against Arianism. His hymns were sung 
in public demonstrations made in the defence of the Faith 
against the popular heresy, and may have been composed 
for that purpose. Gaius speaks of "hymning Christ the 
Word of God, as God," and the hymns of Gregory 
certainly are full of the glories of Christ. 

The Greek hymns are objective in tone. Their theme 
is not "our joy in God," but as has been happily ex- 
pressed, "God who is our Joy." So many late-mediaeval 
hymns, both Protestant and Jesuit, are subjective that 
this freedom from introspective analysis, which so easily 
becomes morbid or sentimental, is a great merit. Instead 
of dwelling upon states of mind, these Eastern hymns look 
away from the worshiper to the Object of worship. 

Three beautiful later Greek hymns are in present use 
in the admirable versions of Dr. John Mason Neale: 
The Day is Past and Over from Anatolius, Christian Dost 
Thou See Them? from Andrew of Crete, and Art tkou 
Weary? from Stephen the Sabaite. 

The first authentic writer of Latin hymns was also a 
valiant foe of the Arians and was banished when they 
had official power in 356 A. D. to Phrygia where he be- 
came acquainted with the ritual of the East. On his re- 
turn he was instrumental in introducing hymn singing 
into the West. There was more than one Hilary, but this 
"Malleus Arianorum" was undoubtedly the Bishop of 



A Study of Latin Hymns 17 

Poictiers whom Isadore calls the first Latin hymn writer 
and who according to St. Jerome wrote a book of hymns. 
A morning hymn is, however, the only one extant that 
can be attributed certainly to him. It is believed that he 
wrote it during his exile and sent it with an evening 
hymn, unfortunately lost, to his daughter Abra. 

HYMNUS MATUTINUS 
(The Oldest Christian Hymn in Latin) 

Lucis largitor splendide, 

Cuius sereno lumine 
Post lapsa noctis temp or a 

Dies refusus panditur; 

Tu verus mundi Lucifer, 

Non is, qui parvi sideris 
Venturae lucis nuntius 

Angusto fulget lumine, 

Sed toto sole clarior, 

Lux ipse totus et dies, 
Interna nostri pectoris 

Illuminans praecordia: 

Adesto, rerum conditor, 

Paternae lucis gloria, 
Cuius admota gratia 

Nostra patescunt corpora; 

Tuoque plena spiritu, 
Secum Deum gestantia, 



A Study of Latin Hymns 

Ne rapientis perfidi 
Diris patescant fraudibus, 

Ut inter actus saeculi 
Vitae quos usus exigit, 

Omni carentes crimine 
Tuis vivamus legibus. 

Probrosas mentis castitas 
Carnis vincat libidines, 

Sanctumque puri corporis 
Delubrum servet Spiritus. 

Haec spes precantis animae, 
Haec sunt votiva munera, 

Ut matutina nobis sit 
Lux in noctis custodiam. 



The Ambrosian Period 

With this hymn of Hilary, Latin hymnody takes its 
rise. In the classical age, the Romans had few hymns in 
the modern sense. The "Dianae sumus in fide" of Catul- 
lus and Horace's famous "Dianam tenerae dicite virgines" 
are plainly lyrics that suggest this form. The traditional 
odes to the gods were quite different in aim and much 
more elaborate in form. "Praise to God with song" was 
Augustine's definition of a hymn, which evidently includ- 
ed also canticles and psalms, but Bede thought the word 
hymn should be applied to metrical compositions only. 

Although Hilary's name stands first, this earliest period 
of Latin Hymns is properly named Ambrosian from the 



A Study of Latin Hymns 19 

great Bishop of Milan who might be called the father of 
church music in the West. Augustine writes that "it was 
first appointed by Ambrose that, after the manner of 
Greek services, hymns and psalms should be sung by the 
people lest they grow weary and faint through sorrow" 
because of the persecution of their good Bishop and their 
confinement with him in the cathedral. He describes him- 
self as moved to tears by the sweetness of the singing, "the 
voices flowed into my ears, the truth distilled into my 
heart ; I overflowed with devout affection and was happy." 
The emotional effect of congregational singing evidently 
was as potent in the fourth century as in the nineteenth. 
Once inaugurated, this custom of encouraging the people 
to join in the singing of hymns spread, according to 
Augustine, from Milan throughout the entire West. 

As to the quality of the hymns which have come down 
to us from the fourth and fifth centuries, Neale a sympa- 
thetic critic calls them rugged. They are in the Latin 
of the Post-Silver Age and antedate the use of rhyme. 
They were intended for popular use and were written in 
the simplest, most direct style. Many of the earliest ones 
read like translations as, doubtless, many of them were. 
When "the stream of psalmody flowed from the language 
of Homer into that of Vergil," facts and ideas that were 
native to the Hebrew and Greek, the two media of Scrip- 
tural inspiration, had to be naturalized in the sonorous 
Roman speech. At first the old thoughts wore the new 
garb somewhat stiffly but it is fair to admit that it must 
have been much less difficult to write hymns in Greek 
since the matter they embodied lay embedded in the 
Greek New Testament. Again, in comparing the early 



zo A Study of Latin Hymns 

hymns with the mediaeval ones, we must take into ac- 
count the fact that in the early period no ecclesiastical and 
spiritual associations were gathered round the Latin 
tongue which was to be the chosen language of the West- 
ern Church for many centuries and is still that of a great 
body of Christian believers. Latin had to "come into 
church fresh from the market, the battlefield, or the court 
of justice." Yet for this very reason, there is a sim- 
plicity of expression and a straightforward sincerity of 
tone in the Ambrosiani that make a strong appeal even 
now. There is not a suggestion of pretense in any of them. 
They may be plain, even crude but they are full of force. 
They have the verve of patriotic hymns or battle-songs. 
Devoid of mystic devotion they have, nevertheless, a vigor 
and at times a majesty truly Roman. 

Of the many Ambrosian hymns, authorities differ as to 
the probable and the possible ones that belong to Am- 
brose himself, but all agree that four are his on the au- 
thority of Augustine and Celestine. These are the "Deus 
creator omnium" the "Aeterne rerum conditor," the 
"Jam surgit hora tertia" which Augustine mentions, and 
the "Veni, redemptor gentium/' of which Celestine speaks, 
and which the critic Herder ranks very high. 

March in his collection of Latin hymns puts twelve 
under the name of Ambrose, one of them a remarkable 
prayer for rain. This poem, for it is rather a poem than 
a hymn, is a graphic description of a drought in a southern 
country, and is almost too realistic. It has been put into 
English very satisfactorily by Bishop Van Buren. 

Among the hymns of uncertain authorship of this first 



A Study of Latin Hymns 21 

period, Mone, the scholarly editor of "Hymns of the 
Middle Ages," attributes the "Hie est dies verus Dei" to 
Ambrose, using doubtless the method of the higher criti- 
cism. Daniel whose Thesaurus is one of the best available 
reference books for students of early hymns thinks that 
the famous 

"Ad coenani Agni providi 
Et stolis albis candidi" 

is a hymn that was sung by newly baptized catechumens 
and one of the most ancient extant. It is a comparison of 
the Feast of the Passover with the sacrament of the Holy 
Communion. 

The "Aurora lucis rutilat" is an Easter hymn which 
tells the Resurrection story simply but beautifully. The 
direct narrative of many early hymns must have served 
the purpose of fixing in the minds of the common people 
the fundamental facts of their religion, and throughout the 
controversial ages, the doctrines founded on these facts. 
They teach plainly that the Church's doctrine has Scrip- 
tural foundation. They have not the smoothness of the 
mediaeval hymns but they ring with triumphant faith and 
give expression to a living theology. Their blunt sweet- 
ness has in it the freshness of the dawn. They are not 
beautiful, nor in the ordinary sense, emotional, but their 
simplicity is refreshing. Their writers accept what the 
Church teaches and exult in every detail of the great song 
of Redemption with loyal gratitude. The morning and 
evening hymns of this period possess a perennial charm 
and are still sung. 



22 A Study of Latin Hymns 

The Fifth Century 

At the beginning of the fifth century, the Vulgate 
edition of the Scriptures was in existence and probably 
gave an impetus to the composition of hymns in the Latin. 
The number of hymns increases, but dates, as well as 
authors, are lacking in the great majority of the oldest 
hynms that have been preserved to us. There is a ten- 
dency to group hymns around famous names. Kings and 
Popes come in for a full share, possibly because the actual 
poets were of their courts. There is no evidence that 
the great Bishop of Hippo ever wrote a hymn, but never- 
theless we find Augustiniani in the collections. "De 
gaudiis Parodist" and "Ad perennis vitae fontem" contain 
phrases suggestive of Augustine's City of God and on this 
account have been associated with his name, although the 
latter is now generally believed to belong to Pietro Dami- 
ani who died in 1072. The "Antidotum contra tyranni- 
dem peccati," whose title certainly might be that of a 
theological treatise, is from internal evidence of much 
later date and although named Augustinian, is credited 
by Anselm to Pietro. Its rhymed refrain is: 

"Duke mihi cruciari, 

Parva vis doloris est: 
'Malo mori quam foedari!' 

Major vis amor is est" 

So in this instance the hymn shows Augustine's influence 
five hundred years after his death. A few centuries made 
little difference to early compilers of hymns when the 



A Study of Latin Hymns 23 

whole of the material was in a state of dire confusion. 

Prudentius was a follower afar of Vergil and the sing- 
ers of the Golden Age of Latin verse. He has even been 
called the Horace and Vergil of the Christians, but this 
extravagant praise is a detriment to him. Though none 
of his contemporaries descend to the barbarism of Latin 
rhyme, he follows the most closely the classic meters. He 
belonged to a period between the literary ages of Rome 
and the time when Latin was known only as an ecclesiasti- 
cal or scholastic language yet, in the opinion of S. W. 
Duffield author of The Latin Hymn-Writers and their 
Hymns, Prudentius fell little below the standard of the 
Silver Age. He always has been popular with scholars, and 
several editions of his works have appeared. His long 
poems with Greek titles have earned him the name of the 
first Christian poet. In reading the hymns of this cul- 
tured writer of the beginning of the fifth century, it is 
a delightful experience to find Christian thought expressed 
in the language and style endeared to us by the master- 
pieces of our favorite Roman poets. How striking the 
difference in the tone of Pagan verse and these lines : 

" Animae fuit haec dom/us olim 
Factoris ab ore creatae; 
Fervens habitavit in istis 
Sapientia principe Christo." 

The "In exsequiis" from which this stanza is quoted is a 
funeral hymn by Prudentius and the most suggestive of 
the classic lyrics in treatment and form of any Christian 
hymn that we have. His "Da, puer, plectrum choreis" 



24 A Study of Latin Hymns 

brings to mind Horace though the motive of the one who 
calls for music is so unlike that of the other, an Epicurean 
poet who is quaffing wine in the shade, and whose wreath 
of roses is for himself, and whose praise is for the muses. 
The fourth watch of the Romans, the dawn of day, 
was called by the Christians "cock-crow." Various 
writers refer to the bird that heralds the coming of the 
morning, but the "Ales diei nuntius" of Prudentius is 
deservedly the most famous instance. 

AD GALLI CANTUM 

Ales, diei nuntius, 

Lucent propinquam praecinit; 

Nos excitator mentium 

lam Christus ad vitam vocat. 

"Auferte," clamat, "lectulos, 
Aegros, sopor os, desides, 
Castique recti ac sobrii 
Vigilate: iam sum proximus," 

Iesum ciamus vocibus, 
Flentes, precantes, sobrii: 
Jntenta supplicatio 
Dormire cor mundum vetat. 

Tu, Christe, somnum disiice; 
Tu rumpe noctis vinculo; 
Tu solve peccatum vetus, 
Novumque lumen ingere! 

Duffield translated the first stanza: 

"The bird, the messenger of day, 
Cries the approaching light 



A Study of Latin Hymns 25 

And thus doth Christ, who callcth us, 
Our minds to Life incite." 

We find the first allusion to the custom of making the 
sign of the cross in these verses from a prayer : 

"Fac, cum vocante somno 

Castum petis cubile, 

Frontem locumque cordis 

Crucis figure signet. 

Crux pellit omne crimen; 

Fugiunt crucem tenebrae; 
Tali dicate signo 

Mens fluctuare nescit." 

These are eight of the twenty-eight verses of the "Cult or 
Dei memento." The "Salvete f lores martyrum" for Holy 
Innocents' day is justly famous, attracting a score of 
translators. Thirty-two hymns generally are admitted 
to be from the pen of Prudentius; the two greatest are 
the "Nox et tenebrae et nubila" and the "Quicumque 
Christum quaeritis." Duffield gives the following version 
of the first and last stanzas of "Nox et tenebrae et nubila:" 

"Night, clouds and darkness, get you gone! 
Depart, confusions of the earth! 
Light comes, the sky so dark and wan 
Brightens — it is the Saviour's birth! 

"How many are the dreams of dread 
Which by thy light are swept apart! 



26 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Thou, Saviour of the sainted dead, 
Shine with calm luster in the heart!" 

This hymn is one of the few very early ones that have 
a place in the Roman Breviary. Mr. Duffield's transla- 
tion of the first and last stanzas of " Quicumque Christum 
quaeritis" is as follows: 

"O ye who seek our Lord to-day, 

Lift up your eyes on high, 
And view Him there, as now you may, 
Whose brightness cannot die." 

"To Him the prophets testified, 
In him their hearts rejoice— 
Our Father bids us seek His side 
To hear and heed His voice." 

The genuine religious fervor of this hymn shows how in 
the midst of the darkest of the Dark Ages, in the time of 
greatest disorder and wretchedness, the lives of Christian 
men shine forth in works of mercy and in songs expressing 
the faith which sustained them. Duffield says Prudentius 
"brightened Latin prosody by the presence of a living 
faith." 

To the latter half of the fifth century belongs the 
celebrated hymn, "Vexilla Regis prodeunt." Its author is 
Fortunatus, a courtier and, later in life, a priest. What 
we know of his life of adventure is interesting, for he was 
one of the first troubadours. He was the last great hymn- 
writer whose native tongue was Latin. He won dis- 



A Study of Latin Hymns 27 

tinction by composing an Epithalamium for one queen, 
and at the height of his popularity he became a priest at 
the desire of another. To Queen Radigunda, who later 
was canonized, and her Abbess Agnes, he wrote many 
amusing lines which do not belong to this study save as 
they go to prove that our poet's inspiration sometimes was 
due to dainties sent him by his lady friends who, greatly 
to their credit, were good cooks as well as good religieuses. 
The hymns of Fortunatus reveal genius though they have 
not the simple truth of those of the Ambrosian period and 
are at times marred by too much glitter. The skill of the 
secular singer of the court appears in artifices and elegant 
details. He wrote in the Latin of the decadence, but his 
artistic merit is so great that five of his hymns are well 
known and deservedly famous. The celebrated "De 
Passione Christi" begins: 

"Vexilla Regis prodeunt 
Fulget crucis mysterium, 
Quo came carnis conditor 
Suspensus est patibulo." 

of which Mrs. Charles gives us the following version, 

"The banner of the King goes forth, 
The Cross the radiant mystery, 
Where in a frame of human birth, 
Man's Maker suffers on the Tree." 

This is the most ancient of the seven great hymns and in 
the favorite unrhymed Ambrosian metre. It has eight 
stanzas. 



28 A Study of Latin Hymns 

His other hymn on the Passion, "Pange, lingua, glori- 
osi proelium certaminis" has been the model of at least 
four other hymns beginnnig "Pange, lingua." The open- 
ing of his Resurrection hymn, "Salve festa dies, toto ven- 
erabilis aevo" has also been copied. Of these three hymns 
of Fortunatus the first has twenty-four English trans- 
lators, the second found an imitator in Thomas Aquinas 
and all are widely known. A fine early hymn on the cross 
is assigned to him "Crux benedicta nitet" and the "Quern 
terra, pontus, aethera" which the hymnographer Thomas- 
ius attributes to him is one of the earliest hymns devoted 
to the praise of the Virgin Mary. Its subject as given 
by Daniel is "De Beata Virgine." The twenty-first verse 
of this hymn begins "O gloriosa femina," this and the 
succeeding fifteen verses appear as a separate hymn in 
the Roman Breviary. His treatment of the cross is very 
unlike that of early writings where it is called "the ac- 
cursed tree" and the change may be observed in his own 
work in which he first speaks of it as patibulum or gallows 
and later as the blessed Cross the venerated symbol of the 
Passion. It may have been the friendship of two gifted 
and saintly women that made Fortunatus capable of a 
true appreciation of feminine qualities for it certainly is 
true that a prominent place is given in his hymns to 
ascriptions of praise to the Blessed Virgin as the ideal of 
womanhood and the personification of spiritual grace. 

The Sixth Century 

The sixth century has among its hymn-writers one 
whose name is associated with a great advance in church 
music, Gregory the Great. The Gregorian chants are 



A Study of Latin Hymns 29 

still in use in the services of the Church. Under him, 
because of the higher development of church music, the 
choir became much more prominent and the singing often 
was done for the people rather than by them. From a 
devout monk, Gregory became a great statesman and held 
the keys of Saint Peter for thirteen years. He materially 
aided the Benedictine foundations whose order of schol- 
ars deserves the grateful admiration of the world of let- 
ters. He sent Augustine who was afterwards the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury to be a missionary in Britain; his 
attention being attracted by the golden hair of the Anglo- 
Saxon slaves in Rome, he determined to make Angeli of 
the Angli. 

The prose works of Gregory are numerous, filling sev- 
eral volumes of Migne's Patrologia. His famous Pas- 
toral Rule was translated into Anglo-Saxon by Alfred the 
Great. Nine hymns are attributed to him. Luther 
thought his "Rex Christe, factor omnium" the best hymn 
ever written. The "Nocte surgentes, vigilemus omnes" 
has Keble and Newman among its many translators and 
the "Ex more docti mystico" Dryden and Neale. The 
"Ecce jam noctis tenuatur umbra" has many English 
versions, the "Audi benigne Conditor" even more. His 
"Ecce tempus idoneum" is a noble hymn, and the power- 
ful "Nox atra rerum" is assigned to him by Mone. His 
style is Ambrosian. He uses phrases all can understand. 
The poetic utterance of this time is well described by Gui- 
zot who says "it is an action , having ceased to be a litera- 
ture." 

Gregory's authorship of the "Veni, Creator Spiritus" 
the second of the seven great hymns and the one the 



30 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Church honors by a place in the rite of ordination to 
the priesthood has been questioned. The "Veni, Creator 
Spiritus" in its simple grandeur seems a work of inspira- 
tion. It is small wonder that it is made a matter of ser- 
ious controversy. In English one can read it in twenty- 
seven versions, although that of Bishop Cosin ranks 
first because nearest the original in spirit. Duffield puts 
the hymn two centuries later than Gregory's time, and 
believes that it was written by Rabanus, a pupil of Al- 
cuin. One of the grounds of his opinion is that Gregory 
never wrote another hymn the equal of this. He, how- 
ever, goes on to say that Rabanus "used the art of verse 
to little purpose at times, but in a happy hour wrote the 
'Vent, Creator Spiritus/ " Rabanus was a scholar and 
this hymn appears in his Codex, and in one of his works 
there is a chapter that expresses its doctrine, but in spite 
of these facts, Mone and Wackernagel attribute it to 
Gregory. 

This disputed point illustrates the great difficulty of 
obtaining authentic authorship for any hymn which has 
not contemporary reference to its origin. It is, after all 
has been said, a question of little moment since the proof 
of the value of a hymn lies in itself. No greatness of an 
author can make a poor hymn a good one. Witness Glad- 
stone's "Jesus pro me perforates!" If a hymn appeals to 
the heart of the Christian worshiper it does not require 
a renowned writer to give it enduring fame. 

Bede and Alcuin recall all that is worthiest in the his- 
tory of mediaeval education. Bede the Venerable studied 
at the monastery connected with what is now Durham 
Cathedral. He became a great Greek scholar, having six 



A Study of Latin Hymns 31 

hundred monks for pupils, many of whom came from 
across the Channel to study with him. Bede's translation 
of the Gospel of Saint John into Anglo-Saxon was finished 
on his death-bed where "singing the 'Gloria/ he gave up 
the ghost." In the words of Mrs. Charles, "Such was 
the calm of a Christian's death-bed in England over eleven 
hundred years ago." The first number in the first volume 
©f Mone's Hymns of the Middle Ages is a long poem by 
Bede on the Creation, its last thirteen stanzas are used 
as a hymn beginning "Post facta celsa Conditor." March 
puts under his name "Salve tropaeum gloria" and Daniel 
prints as his four lines beginning "Praecursor alius lum- 
inis" but the only well authenticated hymns of Bede are 
"Hymnum canamus gloriae" and "Hymnum canentes 
martyrum" which are much admired. The latter is a very 
beautiful hymn for Holy Innocents' day. Duffield sees 
what he considers traces of the influence of Caedmon and 
Beowulf, but hints of Anglo-Saxon parallelism and allit- 
eration are much less marked than in Alcuin. A few 
lines will illustrate Alcuin's style : 

"Te homo laudet alme creator 

Pectore, mente, pads ambre 

Nou modo parva pars quia mundi est." 

The quaint simplicity of this hymn of praise is admirable. 
Bede refers to two ancient hymns, thus establishing 
their date to be certainly as early as the seventh century, 
"Apparebit repentina dies magna Domini" a very impres- 
sive composition which Neale thinks contains the germ 
of the celebrated "Dies Irae" and "Hymnum dicat 



3* A Study of Latin Hymns 

turba fratrum" which Bede describes as "hymnus tile 
pulcherrimus." 

The Seventh Century 

The seventh century has no famous hymn-writer but 
has assigned to it one remarkable hymn "Urbs beata Je- 
rusalem" of which the " Angular e fundamentum" suitable 
for use at the dedication of a church forms a part. All 
authorities admit that there have been later additions to 
this hymn and so competent a critic as Neale believes the 
whole from Spain and of a later date than the seventh 
century. His reason is that its meter is the same as that 
of the forty-eight hymns peculiar to the Mozarabic Brevi- 
ary which is of Spanish origin. This Breviary contains 
many Ambrosiani which were evidently favorite hymns 
in Spain and their meter the iambic dimeter invariably 
was employed. Its use in Seneca's tragedies may have 
made it familiar to the early Christian writers of Latin 
hymns. 

The mediaeval Latin hymns originating in Ireland form 
another national group. Among these hymns the Prayer 
of Saint Patrick, of uncertain age and authorship, is of 
interest : 

AD COMMUNIONEM 

Anima Christi, sanctifica me 
Corpus Christi, salva me. 
Sanguis Christi, inebria me. 
Aqua lateris Christi, lava me. 
Passio Christi, comforta me. 



A Study of Latin Hymns 33 

O bone Jesu, exaudi me. 
Intra vulnera absconde me, 
Et ne permittas me separari a te. 
Ab hoste maligno defende me. 
In hora mortis meae, voca me, 
Et jube me venire ad te, 
Ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te, 
In saecula saeculorum. 

The most beautiful hymn of Irish origin is also a com- 
munion hymn: 

"Sancti venite 
Christi corpus sumite," 

admired both by Daniel and by Neale for its noble sim- 
plicity. It is a favorite with many in Neale's excellent 
translation. 

The Eighth Century 

Towards the close of the eighth century at the court of 
Charlemagne, besides the teacher Alcuin there was an- 
other distinguished hymn-writer, — Paul the Deacon. It 
is a strange coincidence that his three best known hymns 
are about Saint John the Baptist. Caswell has made 
English versions of all three: "O nimis felix meritique 
celsi" "Antra deserti teneris," and "Ut queant laxis." 
The last hymn is famous from the use made of its first 
stanza : 

"Ut queant laxis 
Resonare fibris 



34 d Study of Latin Hymns 

Mira gestorum 
Famuli tuorum, 
Solve polluti 
Labii reatum, 
Sancte Johannes!" 

From the first syllables of each line Ut, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, 
La, and possibly Si, the names of the tones of the diatonic 
scale have been derived. Its tune must have been of such 
a nature that each of these short lines began a degree of 
the scale higher than the preceding one, so that it was 
adopted as a mnemonic device for recalling pitch. Its 
use is associated with the name of Guido of Arezzo a 
musician of the eleventh century. 

The Ninth Century 

The ninth century opened with Charlemagne as Em- 
peror and continued the advance in education recently 
made. Rabanus Maurus as Abbot of Fulda permitted 
laymen to study with the monks. He shares with John 
Scotus Erigena the intellectual pre-eminence of the age. 
His writings fill six volumes of Migne's Patrologia and 
his Codex contains twenty hymns which Duffield thinks 
are his own compositions. This Hymnodia has an ap- 
propriate sacred song for every season, among them is the 
"Veni, Creator Spiritus" which seems the work of a poet 
rather than a scholar. The very reason given that he is 
the learned author of a treatise on the Offices of the 
Holy Spirit is against the probability of such poetic in- 
spiration being his. His well known hymns are but two, 



A Study of Latin Hymns 35 

"Tibi, Christe Splendor Patris" which Neale has trans- 
lated and his "Christe, sanctorum decus angelorum" of 
which one of the several English versions can be found in 
the Hymns of the Ages. 

Walafrid Strabo who was a pupil of Rabanus after- 
ward became the Abbot of Reichenau, an abbey situated 
on an island in Lake Constance. Here when a youth 
he was a student and he gives in a series of letters the 
program of a nine years' course of study at the monastery. 
Anno Domini 815, Latin and German primers kept the 
pupils busy; in 816, grammar, Bible history, and conver- 
sational Latin; in 817, orthography and memorizing the 
entire Psalter in Latin; in 818, Bede's prosody, Cato, 
Sedulus and other Latin poets; in 819, rhetoric and 
practice in teaching begun; in 820, Bede's histories, the 
Latin writers of the Golden Age, and the Christian poets, 
Prudentius and Fortunatus; in 821, Boethius, dialectics 
and the codes of law; in 822, rhetoric and logic; and 
in 823, Homer, music, geography, geometry, and astron- 
omy. Strabo wrote a few hymns but they are of little 
value compared with this detailed account of mediaeval 
education. Strabo was also a voluminous prose writer; 
biography, a treatise on the Divine Offices, and a Bible 
commentary help to make up the catalogue of his works. 

Of the few ninth century hymns the famous "Gloria, 
laus, et honor tibi sit, rex Christe redemptor," a hymn 
for Palm Sunday, was, according to tradition, sung in 
prison on that day in the year 812 by its author Theo- 
dolph the persecuted Bishop of Orleans. The story goes 
that the tyrant in passing heard the song and impressed 
either by it, or the triumphant faith of the imprisoned 



36 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Bishop, brought about his release. 

The "Ave Maris Stella' the great hymn of the An- 
nunciation and the parent of all the hymns to the Virgin 
Mary, probably belongs to this age, although its exact 
date and its authorship are unknown. 

Mediaeval Music 

The ninth century gives us the sequence fully developed 
by Notker of the Monastery of St. Gall. It previously 
had been the custom to prolong the last syllable of the 
Alleluia to cover the time spent in carrying the Missal 
from one side of the altar to the other between the read- 
ing of the Epistle and the Gospel. The sequence in rhyth- 
mic prose gave a syllable to each tone sung and was a great 
improvement over the older artificial expedient of prolong- 
ing the ia through dozens of notes.* In speaking of the 
sequence "Sancti Spiritus adsit nobis gratia" which Dan- 
iel attributes to Notker, Mone calls it a troparion and 
prints the twenty-four prose sentences of Daniel's version 
in sixty-four short lines. He says further it takes the 
place of the "mill-groaning." This allusion to the abuses 
of the droning of the choir is illustrated by the follow- 
ing stanza: 

"Terit mo la far inula 
dum virgo parit tenera 
]urfurum, cribratum, par turn parit 
creatura creatorem parit 
tar a tantarizate, 
corda vestra Deo praeparate," etc. 



*See page 79 of the Appendix. 



ALLELUIA 





- ~"— »^_;_ 


^ 




ff^ 




v ■■■■■/■ •" 



Al-ie-lu . . . ia 





®— =r~®~ 


" —- — 


*i= 


«-*-« m — ®-^§g-^ — m — 

-Jg-S — 8 


^^ i~® — 



SEQUENTIA 




Au-ro-ra lu-cis ru-ti-lat coe-lum lau-di-bus in-to-nat 



g 



-iNl 



Glo-ri-a Patri, et Fi-li-o, et Spiri-tui Sancto 



ft- 



gj^^j^^gfgzgg -B^i^a 



Si - cut e - rat in principio, et nunc, et semper 



E 



-8BHB&— #- 



tg 



Et in sae-cu-la saecu-lo-rum. A -men. 



38 A Study of Latin Hymns 

also this: 

"Quern nunc virgo peperit 
Verlazuis, zuis, zuis 
Verla susanyuna" etc. 

The sequence " Cantemus cuncti melodum nunc Alle- 
luia" is believed to be Notlcer's and the famous "Victimae 
paschali laudes" which has ten translations also is at- 
tributed to him by some authorities. It is one of the few 
preserved in the Roman Missal. More famous yet is 
the wonderful "Antiphona in morte" which in transla- 
tion still is used in the burial service of the Church of 
England and her branches: 

"Media vita 
In morte sumus; 
Quern quaerimus ad)utorem, 
Nisi te, Do mine, 
Qui pro peccatis nostris 
Juste irasceris! 
Sancte Deus, sancte jortis, 
Sancte et misericors Salvator, 
Amarae morti 
Ne tradas nosl" 

Rabanus makes this interesting allusion to antiphonal 
singing : 

" Alternantes concrepando melos 
damns vocibus," 



A Study of Latin Hymns 39 

which Neale translates: 

"Meetly in alternate chorus 
Bearing our responsive part" 

Antiphonal singing undoubtedly was used by the early 
Christians as there was precedent in Greek antiphons and 
the responsive rendering of the Hebrew Psalter in the 
synagogue worship. Pliny the younger refers to the 
Christians singing "secum invicem." The writings of 
Ignatius imply the use of responsive singing and the 
church at Antioch of the time of Constantine II is known 
to have had this custom. 

When Ambrose introduced the use of hymns he un- 
doubtedly added melodies to the music which had been 
simple chants. The wider range of the scales which 
he is believed to have founded on the Greek tetrachords 
indicates this higher development of musical form. To 
the four scales of Ambrose, the Dorian, the Phrygian, 
the Lydian and the Mixed-Lydian, Gregory added three. 
The former the Authentic were scales in the keys of D, 
E, F, and G, and the latter the Plagal were in A, B, and 
C. Gregory besides introducing Eastern innovations, in 
order to reform abuses, established a definite method of 
singing for all the services of the Church. He caused 
an authoritative Antiphonary to be made which was 
chained to the desk of St. Peter's Cathedral and the only 
form permitted. Copies of it were made and the Gregor- 
ian chant spread throughout the West. An Antiphony 
came into the possession of the Abbey of St. Gall where 
music especially was studied and Notker's work is an evi- 



40 A Study of Latin Hymns 

dence of the advances made there. 

It may not be ill-timed to state briefly what music was 
at the time of the earliest hymns and sequences. Isidore, a 
writer in Gregory's time, gives this definition in his Sen- 
tence on Music, "Harmonious music is a modulation of the 
voice. It is also the union of simultaneous sounds." Such 
harmony as existed must have been very rudimentary, 
but melody was highly developed according to the author 
of the article on plain chant in Grove's Dictionary of 
Music. He declares no more wonderful succession of 
single notes ever had been strung into melodies so adapted 
to the words which were sung. What was inaugurated 
in Gregory's time, if tradition is right, became highly 
developed by the thirteenth century when the "Tenebrae" 
of Holy week and the "Exultet" of Easter Eve reach 
the depth of woe and the height of exultation. Judging 
by the plain chant of "Le Paroissien Note" — a note-book 
for priests now in use in the Roman Catholic Church — 
the tones succeed each other in intervals that harmonize 
with each other, with chromatic turn effects interspersed 
and ending with a major interval for the expression of 
joy, a minor interval for lamentation. 

To the ninth century belongs the first known attempt 
at a metrical treatment of the Psalms in a collection en- 
titled "Ad Dominum clamaveram." At this period also 
dialogues made out of the Gospel narratives were arrang- 
ed to be sung. This method of the so-called School of 
Romanus fell into disuse by the tenth century and its ex- 
istence was unknown to so thorough a student of ancient 
hymns as Neale. These dialogues must have been adapted 
to use in the mystery and miracle plays, and were pos- 



A Study of Latin Hymns 41 

sibly the germ of the oratorio and even of the opera. They 
were, like the sequences, rhythmic but not in strict metre. 
There is a mediaeval hymn, "De XI mille virginibus," 
which is divided into what are called "responsoria et ver- 
sus j" for instance: 

Resp. "Deo voto fuit nata 

placans cunctis, Deo grata 
Ursula regalis," 

then the versus expresses approval of what has been sung 
of the saint somewhat in the manner of the Greek chorus. 

The introit, a sentence sung before and after the ap- 
pointed Psalm, sometimes was introduced by a little verse 
or phrase known as the tropus. It was later made the unit 
of a system of strophes called the troparium. "The never 
sleeping guardian — the patron of my soul — the guide of 
my life" is a combination of three troparia. Three, four, 
or five made an ode, and eight or nine odes made a 
canon. This was probably an adjustment of words to 
the tune or melody. 

At the beginning of the tenth century, Hucbald of 
Flanders gives rules for the organum or diaphony which 
seem to authorize the use of successive fourths, fifths, and 
octaves now forbidden, but Dr. Paul believes this was a 
sort of counter-point, the voices only starting at these in- 
tervals. When true harmony began is not known. Ritter 
says in his History of Music that the Gregorian plain 
chant and the folk-song are "the two factors which form 
the foundation upon which all forms of our musical art 
rest." 



42 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Musical notation was very incomplete. The neumae, 
crooks and strokes of various shapes and in various posi- 
tions, were placed over the words to indicate pitch and 
duration of sound. Until the eleventh century only two 
lines of the staff were used when Guido of Arezzo who 
introduced solemnization added two more and so gave the 
neumae a more definite place. Measures were unknown 
and when they began to be used there were still but two 
kinds of notes: *, longa and ■ brevis. In the early 
thirteenth century these were increased to four, ■! du- 
plex-longa, and ♦ semi-brevis being added. These signs 
are still used in the plain song books of priests and no 
measures indicated. Franco of Cologne at this date men- 
tions two kinds of time: the imperfect and the perfect, 
which was triple-time, the trinity being the symbol of 
perfection. There was also in the Middle Ages a kind of 
counter-point, generally for three voices, which was called 
faux-bourdon. It consisted of a succession of chords of 
the sixth accompanying the cantus firmus of a Gregorian 
chant. This was considered a frivolous invention in the 
fourteenth century. It certainly gave opportunity for 
mischievous choir boys to sing secular words as variations 
to the original chant and so to desecrate worship. 

The Tenth Century 

By the tenth century the invocation of the Virgin and 
the Saints became prominent and from that time on, 
hymns to their honor are in the majority. In Notker's 
sequence "De nativitate Domini" the fourth line reads, 
"Hodie seculo maris Stella est enixa novae salutis gaudia;" 
this is the first use of the words maris Stella known. In 



A Study of Latin Hymns 43 

the Vulgate edition of the Bible, Gen. I 10, "appellavit 
maria et vidit Deus quod esset bonum" and Psalm XXIV 
2, "super maria fundavit eum" were regarded as symbolic 
of Maria the Blessed Virgin, and she often is referred to 
as the sea or of it. This earliest known hymn addressed 
to her, while praying to her for peace, light, protection, 
and bona cuncta gives glory to her Son and contains these 
beautiful verses: 

"Vitam praesta pur am, 
Iter para tutum, 
Ut videntes Jesum 
Semper collaetemur" 

and closes with a doxology. Mrs. Hemans's Evening 
Hymn is the best known of the hymns translating "Ave 
Maris Stella" or written in imitation of it. This famous 
hymn has at least eight versions in English, many in 
every modern language, and is one of the few hymns of the 
kind to find a place in March's collection. 

Mone's " Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters" Vol- 
ume I has three hundred and twenty hymns singing of 
the glory of God and the Christian Faith ; Volume II has 
three hundred hymns addressing the Virgin Mary, and 
Volume III, five hundred and ninety-five hymns lauding 
the Saints. St. Anne, for instance, has twenty-five hymns 
or sequences dedicated to her glory as mother of Mary 
and thus intimately connected with the scheme of salva- 
tion. Tributes are paid to saints and martyrs for their 
good works or their especial gifts and graces and their aid 
invoked in harmony with these qualities. A line in a 



44 A Study of Latin Hymns 

hymn about St. Ambrose reads, "Vitae meae rege cursum," 
an evident allusion to his wisdom and piety. The numer- 
ous hymns of this character indicate the direction in which 
the church in the West was developing. Often in these 
hymns to be used on Saints' days, the ascriptions of praise 
to the Deity are confined to the doxology at the close 
and even there the name of the Blessed Virgin sometimes 
is found. 

To the latter half of the tenth century belongs the 
"Chorus novae Jerusalem" which has a place in the old 
Breviary of England, but not in the Roman Breviary. It 
is a fine Whitsuntide hymn and has attracted a dozen 
English translators. This hymn is attributed to Fulbert 
of Chartres, also the "Nuntium vobis fero de supernis" 
which March assigns to Gregory under the title "De 
epiphania." 

The Dawn of the Modern Age 

To the eleventh century, sometimes called the dawn 
of the modern age because it was a century of beginnings, 
belongs the collection of Latin Hymns of the Anglo-Saxon 
Church preserved through the upheaval of the Norman 
conquest which was so to alter British usages. Gothic 
architecture, musical notation, and the invention of rag- 
paper illustrate the varied activities of the age, while 
troubadours and crusaders flourished and a great religious 
revival brings to the fore Hildebrand, Anselm of Canter- 
bury, and Pietro Damiani, the flagellant. Hymn-writers 
were not numerous, but to the eleventh century belongs 
the loveliest of Latin hymns; 



A Study of Latin Hymns 

Veni, Sancte Spiritus, 
Et emitte coelitus 
Lucis tuae radium. 
Veni, pater pauperum. 
Veni, dator muncrum. 
Veni, lumen cordium. 

Consolator optime, 
Dulcis hospes animae, 
Duke refrigerium; 
In labore requies, 
In aestu temperies, 
In fletu solatium. 

lux beatissima, 
Reple cordis intima 
Tuorum fidelium! 
Sine tuo numine 
Nihil est in homine, 
Nihil est innnoxium. 

Lava quod est sordidum, 
Riga quod est aridum, 
Sana quod est saucium; 
Flecte quod est rigidum, 
Fove quod est frigidum. 
Rege quod est devium! 

Da tuis fidelibus 
In te confitentibus 
Sacrum septenarium; 
Da virtutis meritum, 
Da salutis exitum, 
Da perenne gaudium! 



It is included in "the seven great hymns," and is 
beyond question one of the three most beautiful hymns 



46 A Study of Latin Hymns 

to the Holy Spirit. Hymns so addressed are not numer- 
ous, but are remarkable for elevation of tone and depth of 
feeling. It has been the general belief that Robert II 
of France, whom historians portray as an inefficient king 
but a beautiful character, was the author of the "Veni, 
Sancte Spiritus." He wrote several sequences, none of 
them worthy of note. Duffield and others believe it was 
written by Hermann the Cripple, a scholarly and saintly 
monk of Reichenau, who was a celebrated writer on 
music. The famous sequence "Salve Regina mater miser- 
icordiae" is certainly Hermann's. He is known to have 
made a translation from the Arabic of Aristotle's Poetics. 
His unusual character is shown in the fact that he, who 
is surnamed Contractus (the cripple), is also called hilaris- 
simus (most cheerful). 

Pietro Damiani already has been referred to as illus- 
trating Augustinian influence. Besides the hymns previ- 
ously mentioned as his, he wrote "Gravi me terrore pulsas, 
vitae dies ultimata" which has been described as the "Dies 
Irae" of the day of death instead of the day of judgment. 
It is awful in its details of horror. His Easter hymn 
"Paschalis festi gaudium" and his "Paule, doctor egregie" 
are of admitted merit. He wrote many hymns to the 
Virgin and the saints but his greatest hymn is "Ad per- 
ennis vitae fontem" which Daniel calls a pearl for our 
treasury. It is not one of the seven hymns, but it might 
well be, as it is certainly superior to the "Stabat Mater 
speciosa." Mrs. Charles has translated it adequately and 
there are fourteen other English versions. 

Pietro, cardinal and flagellant, was an earnest reformer. 
He was the author of the "Liber Gemorrhianus" address- 



A Study of Latin Hymns 47 

ed to Pope Leo IX exposing prevalent abuses, The 
flagellation which he advocated and practised was to be 
the antidote to self-indulgence. The Psalter was recited 
to an accompaniment of blows of the scourge. Every 
Psalm called for one hundred strokes, and so the whole 
required fifteen thousand! 

Of the hymns of unknown authorship of this century 
a very interesting "Cantus peregrinantium" has these 
lines : 

"Ducem nobis praebe, 
angelum adhibe, 
qui nos deducat ante tel 

Iter nostrum rege, 
ab hoste defende 

et ad propriam reduce! 

Dexter am extende, 
sinistram submove, 
et adversis nos defende!" 

Neale's rendering of these verses is: 

"Thy faithful guardian send 
The angel who may tend 
And bring us to Thy holy seat. 

Defend our onward path, 
Protect from hostile wrath 
And to our land return our feet. 

Thy right hand be stretched out, 

Thy left be round about, 

In every peril that we meet!" 



48 A Study of Latin Hymns 

There are some errors in the original text but the spirit 
is one of humility and sincere piety. Much of this 
Pilgrim's Song is as suitable a prayer for a traveler now 
as it was nine hundred years ago. 

The Twelfth Century 

In Latin hymnody no century was more productive of 
great things than the twelfth. The work of Marbod 
who was acknowledged to be the foremost poet of his 
day overlaps the preceding century. From him we have 
the finest specimen of rhymed Latin verse we possess : 

ORATIO AD DOMINUM 

Deus-homo, Rex coelorum, 
Miserere miserorum; 
Ad peccandum proni sumus, 
Et ad humum redit humus; 
Tu ruinam nostram fulci 
Pietate tua dulci. 
Quid est homo, proles Adaef 
Germen necis dignum clade. 
Quid est homo, nisi vermis, 
Res in fir ma, res inermis? 
Ne digneris huic irasci, 
Qui non potest mundus nasci: 
Noli, Deus, hunc damnare, 
Qui non potest non peccare; 
Iudicare non est aequum 
Creaturam, non est tecum: 
Non est miser homo tanti, 
Ut respondeat Tonanti. 
Sicut umbra, sicut fumus, 
Sicut foenum facti sumus: 
Miserere, Rex coelorum, 
Miserere miserorum. 



A Study of Latin Hymns 49 

There are no more musical couplets in any tongue than 
these eleven pairs of verses. It is evident that in Mar- 
bod's time the diphthong ae rhymed with e, vid. Adae, 
clade. This is doubtless regarded as a late-Latin corrup- 
tion by the restorers of the Roman method of pronuncia- 
tion. A specimen of Marbod's dactylic hexameter verse 
may be found in March's collection, a hymn on the 
Resurrection beginning, "Credere quid dubitem fieri quod 
posse probatur." His poem "De Gemmis" containing the 
mythology of precious stones and their virtues was a great 
favorite in the Middle Ages. He was a good Bishop as 
well as a popular poet, governing wisely his diocese of 
Rennes. 

It is a rare experience to find an early hymn written 
by a woman. Besides the "A urea luce" of Elpis whose 
date is uncertain, we have in this century one hymn at- 
tributed to Hildegard, "O ignis Spiritus" and one to the 
noted Heloise, "Requiescat a labore." It is to be re- 
gretted that both of these attributions are now disputed. 

The twelfth century offers the hymns of the two Ber- 
nards, Abelard, Peter the Venerable, Hildebert, and Adam 
of St. Victor. It speaks well for the training in Latin in 
the monasteries that it could be used so artistically by men 
of genius of whom it was not the native language. Trou- 
badours were singing in the tongues of the Northwest 
but churchmen were loyal to the language of Constantine 
and to the Western Church. They consecrated their 
talents to sacred song in the language made sacred by 
ecclesiastic association. 

Hildebert, Archbishop of Tours, wrote ten thousand 
verses. His prem to the three Persons of the Trinity is 



50 A Study of Latin Hymns 

laden with theological distinctions that are ill-adapted to 
poetical treatment. Whatever the artistic defects of the 
"Alpha et Omega, magne Deus" a creed in rhyme, it 
is very lofty in tone and of deep import. It is difficult to 
imagine how so profound a theme could be better handled 
in verse. It has attracted several translators and its 
closing verses, beginning "Me receptet Sion ilia" are found 
in modern hymnals. Archbishop Trench and Neale rank 
them very high. 

The foremost churchman of his age was Bernard of 
Clairvaux. He was in his youth under the English abbot, 
Stephen Harding, at Citeaux and from there went out 
to found Clairvaux, turning a desolate valley into a 
veritable garden of the Lord. Like Augustine, this twelfth 
century saint had a saintly mother. His four brothers 
followed him into the monastic life. Of a magnetic per- 
sonality, tall, thin and very fair, an earnest preacher, he 
was a marked figure in the world of his day. His life 
was full of activity, his hymns are full of quiet trustful- 
ness. This energetic missionary was a man of deep devo- 
tion and sincere piety. 

His famous hymn The Name of Jesus has come down 
to us in different forms. March gives ninety-six of the 
best verses. The hymn is divided easily into groups of 
stanzas, each group making a hymn of ordinary length. 
The first twenty lines are familiar to all in the beautiful 
version in English by Caswell which may be found in 
the Hymnal of the Episcopal Church : 

Jesus, the very Thought of Thee with Siveetness Fills 
the Breast. 



A Study of Latin Hymns 51 

The Latin text is: 

DE NOMINE IESU 

Iesu dulcis memoria 
Dans vera cordis gaudia, 
Sed super mel et omnia 
Eius dulcis praesentia. 

Nil canitur suavius, 
Auditur nil iucundius 
Nil cogitatur dulcius 
Quam Iesus, Dei filius. 

Iesu, spes poenitentibus 
Quam pius es petentibus, 
Quam bonus te quaerentibus 
Sed quid invenientibus? 

Nee lingua valet dicere, 
Nee litera exprimere 
Expertus potest credere 
Quid sit Iesum diligere. 

These verses are a good illustration of iambic dimeter 
rhyming in fours. The Latin stanza quoted below is the 
original of Ray Palmer's : 

"Jesus Thou joy of loving hearts! 
Thou Fount of life! Thou Light of men! 
From the best bliss that earth imparts 
We turn unfilled to Thee again," 

"Iesu, dulcedo cordium,, 
Fons vivus, lumen mentium, 
Excedens omne gaudium, 
Et omne desiderium." 



52 A Study of Latin Hymns 

This long hymn on the name of Jesus doubtless has been 
the inspiration of the many hymns of a similar nature in 
every language. 

St. Bernard's long poem "Ad unum quodlibet membrum 
Christi" contains the "Salve Caput cruentatum" of which 
O Sacred Head now Wounded is the favorite English 
version. Other parts of this remarkable series of hymns 
are injured by painful details, especially the "Ad Latus" 
While the merit of St. Bernard's hymns is beyond ques- 
tion, their tone of intimacy, even of familiarity, led to 
dangerous extremes, and introduced a tendency to be 
lamented. They were, however, the utterance of an un- 
bounded love, of a faith new-born. It is said that the 
Gospel had a new meaning to him when he discovered 
"it was intended to comfort the human heart." Does not 
this experience, like similar ones of later times, make evi- 
dent a prevalent misunderstanding of the Gospel which 
gave rise to presenting Christ as the severe Judge rather 
than the merciful Redeemer? 

Two of the sayings of Bernard are worth recording, 
"He does not please who pleases not himself" and "Hold 
the middle line, unless you wish to miss the true method." 
Few men who have received canonization deserve the 
honor by such a variety of superior qualities as did this 
noble, earnest Christian priest. 

His opponent Abelard was a contrast to him in more 
than mere opinion. A brilliant thinker who overthrew 
the Scholastic doctrine of "universals," Abelard was of 
a domineering nature and harsh even to those he loved. 
Pride of intellect was his pitfall. His one hundred and 
six hymns are little known. To create songs that others 



A Study of Latin Hymns 53 

will sing, one must have the heart of a singer. In Neale's 
Mediaeval Hymns may be found a translation of Abe- 
lard's "Mittit ad Virginem," a hymn in dactylic dimeter 
verse on the Annunciation. Quite different was the 
character of his generous friend Peter the Venerable who 
received Abelard into the Abbey of Cluny when other 
doors were closed to him. Peter's "Mortis portis fractis 
fortis" is a stirring Easter hymn. 

The black monks of Cluny had a greater poet in the 
other Bernard whose long poem of three thousand lines, 
"De Contemptu Mundi" contains the verses on the Heav- 
enly Land which have given him enduring fame. From 
this part which is entitled "Laus patriae coelestis," Neale 
took the material for three great English hymns, Brief 
Life is here our Portion, For Thee, O Dear, Dear Coun- 
try, and Jerusalem the Golden. Neale also gives in The 
World is very Evil a version of the verses beginning : 

"Hora novissima, tempora pessima sunt, vigilemus. 
Ecce minaciter imminet arbiter Hie supremus." 

The hexameter verses are made very musical by a suc- 
cession of five dactyls. The Church is indebted to the 
Prior of Cluny for the most radiant picture of the City of 
the Christian's hope outside the Apocalypse. 

Adam of St. Victor was a poet whom the dialectical 
atmosphere of a theological school could not spoil. His 
fault to the ordinary reader is that his allusions are ob- 
scure and his thought full of difficult symbolism. He is a 
theologians' poet (a favorite of both Neale and Trench) 
rather than one for the people, excepting in his master- 



54 A Study of Latin Hymns 

pieces. In 1858, by the discovery of a manuscript, the 
number of his known hymns was increased from thirty- 
six to one hundred and eight. Of these March publishes 
eight, and translations of eleven are given in Neale's 
Mediaeval Hymns. His "Zyma vetus expurgituf" and 
"Simplex hi essentia" may not attract many readers but 
two of his hymns rank among the best, "Heri mundus 
exultavit" about St. Stephen, and "Veni, Creator Spir- 
itusj Spiritus recreator" one of the famous hymns on 
the Holy Spirit. 

A remarkable hymn whose author is unknown, 
belongs to this period, the "Cum revolvo toto corde" 
which is plainly the precursor of the "Dies lrae." Take 
for example these verses: 

"Dies ilia , dies vitae 
Dies lucis inauditae 
Et mors ipsa morietur 
Qua nox omnis destruetur." 

Its one hundred and eighty-four verses are divided by 
Mone into five parts. It is more personal than the "Dies 
lrae" and has more about the rewards of the blessed. 
Mrs. Charles has an excellent translation of the last part. 

The Age of the Giants 

The thirteenth century, the age of Francis and Dom- 
inic, has been called the Age of the Giants. Of great 
hymn-writers it produced Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventura, 
Thomas of Celano, and Jacoponous. 



A Study of Latin Hymns 55 v 

Of anonymous hymns, we notice "Recolamus sacram 
coenam," which is found in translation in the Lyra Eu- 
charistica. It contains the stanza: 

"He spake, before them all 
Still perfect Man He stood, 
Though what he ate and drank he named 
His very flesh and blood." 

The "O beata beatorwn martyrum certamina" is a 
fine commemoration of the martyrs and has been trans- 
lated by Neale. 

Very early in this century disciples began to gather 
around Francis of Assisi, one of the most beautiful char- 
acters in the history of the Church. Among them was 
Thomas of Celano, who wrote the life of St. Francis and 
to whom is attributed the finest Latin hymn ever written, 
the "Dies Irae."* It is perfect in form and it is said 
sound and sense never were more happily united in any 
poem in any tongue. Goethe, Scott, and Dr. Johnson 
are merely representative admirers of its greatness. Its 
use in the closing scenes of Faust and in The Lay of the 
Last Minstrel shows how universal is its application. 
That Scott repeated parts of it on his deathbed and that 
Dr. Johnson could not read the stanza beginning "Quaer- 
ens me" without tears, show the strength of its appeal. 
It is used in the Roman Catholic ritual, and is as suitable 
for a burial service as for All Souls' day. Mozart's 
Requiem, completed as he was dying, is a worthy setting 
for this sublime hymn. The discriminating world is of 



*"Dies Irae" with English Translation appendix p. 79. 



56 A Study of Latin Hymns 

accord in ascribing to it preeminence. Written a century 
before the Divina Comedia by a countryman of Dante, it 
rises to the same height in its appreciation of the great 
issues of life from the mediaeval Christian standpoint. 

The popularity of the "Dies Irae" has brought it many 
translators, whose zeal has been out of all proportion to 
their ability as poets. One reads these versions from cur- 
iosity, but turns away in utter dissatisfaction. Students 
who attempt a translation, even with humiliating results, 
gain familiarity with every phrase, every word, which is 
worth securing at any price. In English, the triple rhym- 
ing verses have an artificial sound which detracts from the 
solemnity of the effect, and the closing trochaic foot is a 
weak ending without finality. DufiEeld mentions one hun- 
dred and fifty-four published English versions of which 
ninety-six are by American authors. In Latin the three 
rhyming words, from the repetition of the same vowel 
sounds, are like a solemn knell and remind one of the mu- 
sic of cathedral chimes. A few other hymns are accred- 
ited to Thomas of Celano, but will not bear comparison 
with this masterpiece. This stanza will recall its marvel- 
ous power: 

"Quaerens me sedisti lassus, 
Redemisti crucem passus: 
Tantus labor non sit cassusl" 

The last five stanzas of the hymn have not the merit 
of the great thirteen. 

With this one notable exception, the thirteenth cen- 
tury fell below its predecessor in creative work. The 
Latin passed on to the modern languages the perfection 



A Study of Latin Hymns 57 

of rhyme and accentual metre it had attained and it 
began to take the place of honor that is still its own, one 
of dignity apart from everyday life. 

Of the four celebrated hymn-writers mentioned, all 
were Franciscan monks except the great Thomas Aquinas, 
who was a Dominican. This Order was founded seven 
years later than the Franciscan, and was famous for schol- 
arship, especially in dialectics and theology. Foremost 
among the scholars of his day, Thomas Aquinas found 
time to put his belief in the Real Presence into poetic 
form, in addition to writing his weighty treatises, which 
still are authoritative in the Roman communion. He felt 
as well as thought deeply on this subject, so his hymns are 
touched with true emotion. His 

"Pange, lingua, gloriosi 
Corporis mysterium, 
Sanguinisque pretiosi," 

is much admired by Neale and venerated by all Catholics. 
His "O esca viatorum" is a favorite with Protestants also 
in Ray Palmer's version O Bread to pilgrims given. The 
"Adoro Te devote, latens Deltas" is honored by a place 
in the Roman Missal. "Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem" has 
a dozen English translators. It was written to be sung on 
Corpus Christi Day, the Thursday after Trinity, which 
was set apart in 1261 for this observance. In 12 15, the 
fourth Lateran Council had enunciated the authorized 
doctrine of transubstantiation in an attempt to silence the 
doubts of Churchmen and to bring to one mind the Chris- 
tian world concerning this greatest of Christian sacra- 



58 A Study of Latin Hymns 

ments. The early communion hymns in their simplicity 
and the later ones like the "O colenda Deltas" a prayer 
to be used at the raising of the Host, teach more of the 
truth by the inspiration of a "lifting of the heart to God" 
than any doctrinal exposition can. 

Bonaventura, the Franciscan friend of Thomas 
Aquinas, exemplified in his life and writings the gentler 
Christian graces. He is the author of the greatly admired 
"Horae de passione Jesu Christi" of which the last section 
"Ad Completorium: Qui jacuisti mortuus" is very mov- 
ing. He wrote two other hymns on the Passion "Chris- 
tum ducem" and the curiously figurative "Quantum ha- 
mum caritas tibi praesentavit." His famous hymn on the 
cross, "Recordare sanctae cruris" carries its glorification 
/to the height as the symbol of Salvation. The "Psalter- 
ium" filling six hundred lines with the virtues and powers 
of the Virgin Mary has been attributed to Bonaventura. 
He is said to have written it as an aid to private devo- 
tions. 

The use of the rosary, a prayer device of Eastern devo- 
tees before the time of Christ, was in the thirteenth cen- 
tury taught by a monk of St. Dominic. There is a hymn 
to Christ which was to be used in saying beads but the 
"Ave Maria" many times repeated, with an occasional 
"Pater Noster" soon became the established usage. The 
purpose was undoubtedly concentration of mind in long 
devotions. 

The second greatest hymn of the thirteenth century is 
the justly celebrated "Stabat Mater dolorosa" whose 
author was an eccentric Franciscan monk, who lived 
towards the close of the century. Jacoponus was a 



A Study of Latin Hymns 59 

genius, more than half mad it seems, and yet sane enough 
to write his own epitaph as "a fool for Christ's sake." 
He startled the world by his oddities and went so far in 
bold acts and utterances as to bring upon himself, for a 
time, the dire penalty of excommunication. One sus- 
pects his folly was assumed as a cloak for the zealous 
reformer. He died in 1306 singing the " Anima bene- 
dicta" the song of a blessed soul, and receiving his last 
communion. 

Of his hymns the "Cur mundus militat sub vana 
gloria" well expresses the contempt for all things earthly 
which his life showed. What others sang about, Jaco- 
ponus exemplified by indifference to any standards but 
spiritual ones : 

"Quam breve festum est haec mundi gloria 
Et umbra hominis sunt ejus gaudia" 

His "Cur relinquis Deus coelumf" is a fine hymn and 
has been translated well by Duffield. A man who could 
write the "Stabat Mater dolorosa" was a true poet, one 
of the very greatest, and perhaps the last who deserves 
this title among the writers of Latin hymns. Before his 
day, hymns to the Virgin had become very numerous and 
afterwards were even more abundant, but this "Stabat 
Mater" is the climax of them all, even its companion 
composition the "Stabat Mater speciosa" credited to Jaco- 
ponus but probably not his, falls far below it though both 
are ranked by Noyes among the seven great hymns. 

A hymn of this period of unknown authorship, Thomp- 
son thinks should have more English translators and gen- 



60 A Study of Latin Hymns 

eral use in our time, it is the "Jesu, duke medicamen.' 
It has eight stanzas in four pairs. One is as follows: 

"In adversis patientem 
in dolore fac gaudentem 

tua me dementia, 
in secundis temperatum 
in moerore non turbatum 

laetum in injuria" 

Reichenauer writes that it is "ein schones Lied durch 
seine Innigkeit und wohl geordnete Anlage, die eine edle 
Haltung giebt" 

The Last of the Latin Hymns 

After the close of the thirteenth century there are few 
well-known hymns; those written to the Virgin and the 
Saints greatly increase in number. There are long poems 
composed on the "Angeli salutatio," which in the Vulgate 
reads : 

"Ave Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum; 
Benedicta tu in mulieribus," 

To this the words of Elizabeth's salutation are added, 
"Benedictus Fructus ventris tui" 

In the "Ave Maria," the name Jesus follows and then 
comes: "Sancta Maria ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc et 
in hora mortis nostrae. Amen." There are hymns in 
which each verse begins with one of these words. There 



A Study of Latin Hymns 61 

are others founded in the same way upon the famous 
hymns in her praise. Her Seven Joys are the subject of 
several. "Omni die die Mariae" has one hundred and 
twenty-six lines. The " Te Matrem laudamus" modeled 
after the ancient "Te Deum laudamus" is preserved in the 
Roman Breviary. "Regina coeli laetare" and "Stella 
maris, O Maria" are hymns of poetic value and among 
the Latin hymns which originated in Germany we find 
dating from the fifteenth century the lovely "Puer natus 
in Bethlehem" and the "Virginis in gremio." The Vir- 
gin's place of prominence in early hymns of the Nativity 
developed naturally in later ages into almost countless 
entire compositions in her honor. 

The last two volumes of Mone's Latin Hymns of the 
Middle Ages covering as they do the Dark Ages of liter- 
ature, have little of poetic value. They do, however, pre- 
serve among much inferior work, a few hymns expressing 
genuine feeling in melodious form. The subject matter 
of the third volume has a wide range, although certain 
saints often are honored. St. Ursula has many verses in 
her praise. The "Ave Martha gloriosa" portrays the 
devout woman of Bethany as patroness of Tarascon in 
place of the legendary Britomart. The napkin of St. 
Veronica has its song. The learned Doctors of the 
Church have their share of praise, St. Augustine being 
lauded at great length. No further back, however, than 
this age of decadence of Latin hymnody can be traced 
some excellent sequences. The "Majestati sacrosanctae" 
whose style suggests an earlier origin is one of the best. 
Mauburn's "Heu quid jaces stabulo" is a favorite with the 
translators. Its original can be found in March's Latin 



62 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Hymns. "Novum sidus exoritur" the oldest hymn on 
the Transfiguration belongs to this period. There are 
also at this time curious hymns partly Latin and partly in 
the vernacular; lower than this mixed form hymnody 
could not fall. 

After 1452, the Breviaries containing all the ritual 
except the mass were in use. To the Sarum Breviary 
we owe the "Collaudamus Magdalena" which Daniels 
calls a very sweet hymn, and two Transfiguration hymns 
"Coelestis formam gloriae" and "O nata lux de lumine" 
From the Sarum Missal we also have "Si vis vere gloriari" 
which has been well translated by Neale, the prince of 
translators. 

Thomas a Kempis, who is beloved by the Christian 
world as the author of the celebrated Imitation of Christ, 
is credited with a few hymns ; Wackernagel publishes two. 
March has the " Adversa Mundi tolera" on the grace of 
patience and the "Astant angelorum chori" about celestial 
joys. Mone gives "Jerusalem luminosa" and "Nee quis- 
quam oculis videt." It is interesting to note that the 
"Imitatio Christi" is in rhythmical prose. Take for in- 
stance these lines:* 

" A mans volat, currit et laetatur ; 

Liber est, et non tenetur; 

Dat omnia pro omnibus, 

Et habet omnia in omnibus; 
Quia in uno summo super omnia quiescit 
Ex quo omne bonum fluit et procedit." 



*Itnitatio Christi Book I, chap. 5. 



A Study of Latin Hymns 63 

From the York Processional of the sixteenth century 
we have three proses which begin "Salve festa dies, toto 
venerabilis aevo" following Fortunatus only in this open- 
ing verse. 

The humanists, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, 
of this age sing in a tongue foreign to their thoughts 
songs of praise which seem too much like Latin exercises. 
A few of Luther's Latin hymns, however, are spontane- 
ous outpourings of emotion and there are some other 
simple but good ones of this late day. 

From the "Society of Jesus" recently organized come 
hymns of unique style. They are full of a passionate 
devotion of the kind first manifested plainly in St. Ber- 
nard's poems. The "Dormi, fili, dormi" is of so intimate 
a nature as to seem more like a lullaby than a sacred 
song. One stanza will illustrate its style: 

"Quidquid optes, volo dare: 
dormi, parve pupule! 
dormi, fili, dormi carae 
matris deliciolae" 

Other famous hymns of Jesuit origin are "Pone luctum 
Magdalena" which has nine English translators, and the 
"Ecquis binas columbinas" which has a half-dozen and 
has a place in the original in both March's and Arch- 
bishop Trench's collections. The latter hymn is intensely 
emotional. "Altitudo, quid hie ]aces" and "Plaudite 
coeli"* are great favorites; the "Plaudite coeli" is a pre- 
cursor of the best modern Easter hymns with its refrain : 



*" Plaudite coeli" with English version appendix page 81. 



64 A Study of Latin Hymns 

"Nam que revixit 
Sicuti dixit, 
Pius illaesus 
Funere Jesus!" 

To Xavier, on doubtful evidence, is assigned the author- 
ship of the famous 

"O Deus, ego amo te, 
Nee amo te, ut salves me 
Aut quia non amantes te 
Aeterno punis igne." 

From the prayer book of Mary Queen of Scots we have 
the following touching prayer which the world of her 
admirers loves to believe was her own composition. It 
was certainly on her lips in those last trying hours when 
her life was sacrificed because of its dangerous nearness 
to the throne of her cousin Queen : 

"O Domine Deus! 
Speravi in te; 
O care mi Jesu! 
Nunc libera me: 
In dura catena, 
In misera poena 
Desidero te; 
Languendo, gemendo, 
Et genuflectendo 
Adoro, imploro, 
Ut liberes me!" 



A Study of Latin Hymns 65 

It may be rendered : 

Lord, my God ! 

1 have hoped in Thee. 
My blessed Lord! 

deliver me: 

In tedious chains 
In bitterest pains 

1 long for Thee. 
Fainting and crying, 
At Thy feet lying, 

I adore Thee, I implore Thee, 
O set me free! 

Collections of Hymns 

The Roman Breviary now in use was published in 1568 
and superseded all the diocesan and provincial ones. It 
has been revised twice and now is published in four closely 
printed volumes of Latin text. It contains besides proper 
Psalms, prayers, and sermones from the Church Fathers, 
hymns introduced as needed for daily or occasional use. 
Pars Verna of the "Breviarum Romanum" has ninety-one 
hymns; Pars A estiva, one hundred and eleven; Pars 
Autumnalis, ninety-two and Pars Hiemalis, eighty-six. 
There are a hundred and ninety different hymns; thirty- 
seven are printed in each of the four volumes and many 
others appear in more than one. It is a valuable collec- 
tion of old Latin hymns; among them we find some re- 
casts made to bring the Latin nearer to the classic form. 
To re-write in the interest of style sometimes weakens 



66 A Study of Latin Hymns 

the presentation of the subject matter and thus results in 
a loss of vigor and freshness. Daniel prints fifty-five of 
these recasts in parallel columns with the old forms. The 
changes often are very slight, merely verbal with now 
and then a stanza revised beyond recognition. 

The Order of Cluny in a revision of the Paris Breviary 
which continued to be used, substituted new hymns for 
those which tradition had sanctioned. Instead of recasts, 
hymns were rewritten entirely. The Ambrosian hymn 
"Ad coenam Agni providi" which in the Roman Breviary 
is "Ad regias Agni dapes" is in Charles Coffin's revision 
"Forti tegente brachio." Jean Santeul contributed to the 
edition of 1686 many excellent hymns, among them, 
Sainte-Beuve pronounces finest the "Stupete gentes, fit 
Deus hostia," of which Duffield gives the Latin text. In 
the 1736 edition of the Paris Breviary the new hymns 
were twelve to one, only twenty-one old ones being re- 
tained, while there were eighty-five by Santeul and nearly 
a hundred by Charles Coffin, less gifted than Santeul, 
but a man of talent and a skillful writer of Latin verse. 
These hymns are too recent to be included in mediaeval 
collections. Newman's "Hymni Ecclesiae" contains 
many and they may be read in English in the Hymns of 
the Paris Breviary translated by Williams. 

The student of Latin Hymns owes a debt of gratitude 
to their zealous collectors from the Middle Ages down to 
our day. German scholarship has done much to make the 
hymns accessible, Daniel's Thesaurus in five volumes ap- 
pearing from 1841-56, and the three volumes of Mone's 
"Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters" in 1853. Migne's 
Patrologia — prose and verse — in two hundred and twen- 



A Study of Latin Hymns 67 

ty-one volumes was published in Paris about the same 
date. Of English students, Newman, Neale, whose Latin 
essay on Sequences is printed in Daniel's Thesaurus, and 
Trench have each edited collections of Latin hymns. 
March published in 1875 a volume of Latin Hymns, con- 
taining one hundred and fifty well-chosen selections. Duf- 
field estimates that there are between four and five hun- 
dred Latin hymns suitable for present day use, although 
as in all literature the masterpieces are few. 

The Value of Latin Hymns 

The study of Latin Hymns is worth all the time and 
labor that have been or can be expended on it, since there 
is no other approach so direct to the ages in which they 
appear, as through these hymns which reveal the deepest 
desires, strongest hopes, and most sincere belief of minds 
that were among the best of their time. We seem to 
look into the eyes of the singers as we feel the emotions 
of these poet-souls of the past Christian ages. They wrote 
of what they knew, they praised what they prized. They 
share with us what they valued more than any earthly 
gain or renown, the spiritual heritage which was their 
refuge amid the storm and stress of a life even more exact- 
ing than ours, their shield against temptation, and their 
hope of eternal life. 

In the study of Latin Hymns we can trace the course 
of Christian life down through the ages. Those of the 
fourth century give a clearer expression of great funda- 
mental doctrines than do the hymns of later centuries. 
Every time of religious revival infuses a brighter glow of 



68 A Study of Latin Hymns 

emotional fervor into the hymns of the period, just as 
in more recent years Wesley, Keble, and Moody found 
the hymn the natural utterance of penitence and newly 
awakened devotion. The subjective treatment found in 
the later Latin hymns both of Jesuit and of Protestant 
writers shows the change to belong to the age rather than 
to the shade of religious conviction of the poet. 

Hoffman attributes the effect that the best hymns have 
upon us to their simplicity and veracity. "Here," he 
says, "sounds the speech of a general confession of one 
heart and one faith." The appeal they make to us is 
convincing proof of the influence they have had for all 
these centuries on those who used them. This thought 
gives a new meaning to "the communion of saints." "All 
the faithful," in the words of Thompson, "are bound in 
spiritual brotherhood with those who held to the same 
Head and walked in the light of the same faith in by-gone 
centuries." Even the hymn-writers who differ most 
widely from each other and from ourselves as to the 
tenets of "the Faith once delivered to the Saints" when 
they sing of the manifestation of the love of God and pro- 
claim the good tidings of His Kingdom, speak a language 
every Christian understands and to which the heart re- 
sponds in the twentieth century as it has through all the 
Christian ages. 



APPENDIX 



NOTES 



English Versions 

Of the more than five thousand Latin hymns accessible 
to him, Mr. Duffield indexed eight hundred and seventy 
hymns, recasts of hymns, and portions of hymns treated as 
whole hymns. Although only one in five of the number 
preserved, they are of especial interest because their merit 
has secured for them translation into English. Our Eng- 
lish hymnody has been enriched by versions of Latin 
hymns from the time of Chandler down to those of the 
present day. Their poetic excellence and loftiness of 
devotion make them of equal value to the student of liter- 
ature and to the historian of religious thought. 

II 

Breviaries 

The Breviaries and Missals of the Western Church are 
the sources of the Latin hymns we possess. About a 
hundred Breviaries were printed in the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries; others exist in manuscript form. 

The Paris Breviary was published in 1527, its new 
form in 1736. Part I of Newman's "Hymni Ecclesiae" 

71 



72 A Study of Latin Hymns 

is from the Paris Breviary of which the latest edition is 
largely the work of Jean Santeul and Charles Coffin. 

The first edition of the Roman Breviary was printed in 
1 48 1 and the final form in 1631 to which a few addi- 
tions have been made in later years. The Roman Brevi- 
ary being the one used in the Roman Catholic Church of 
this country is the most accessible. It is also of present 
interest because in common use in our own land, and as its 
hymns belong to all ages it is more representative of 
Latin hymnody than any other of the Breviaries. 

Ill 

Hymns of the Roman Breviary 

One hundred and ninety Latin hymns are contained in 
the Roman Breviary proper; in the appendix to Pars 
Hiemalis there are three additional ones for the celebra- 
tion of the Holy Family. 

The following thirty-four hymns are printed in each of 
the four volumes: 

"Ads pice infami Deus" 
"Alto ex Olympo vertice" 
"Ave maris Stella" 
"Christe sanctorum decus" 
"Christo profusum" 
"Coelestis urbs Jerusalem" 
"Coelitum Joseph decus" 
"Deus tuorum militum" 
"Exultet orbis gaudiis" 



A Study of Latin Hymns 73 

"For tern virili pec tore" 
"Hujus oratu Deus' 
"Invicte martyr" 
"Iste confessor Domini" 
"Jam lucis orto" 
"Jesu corona celsior" 
"Jesu corona virginum" 
"Jesu Redemptor omnium" 
"Memento rerum Conditor" 
"Moerentes oculi" 
"Nunc Sancte nobis Spiritus" 
"O gloriosa virginum" 
"Praeclara custos virginum" 
"Quern terra pontus sidera" 
"Rector potens" 
"Rerum Deus tenax" 
"Sacris solemniis" 
"Saevo dolorum" 
"Sanctorum meritis" 
"Te Joseph celebrent" 
"Te lucis ante terminum" 
"Te splendor et virtus" 
"Verbum supernum" 
"Virginis proles. . .Haec" 
"Virginis proles. . .Hujus" 

This list is made up of those suitable for use through- 
out the Church year. Five hymns are for the Hours; 
five, about the Virgin Mary; three, about the Passion; 
two, about St. Joseph; and two, about the Holy Com- 
munion. The martyrs have seven hymns in their praise; 



74 A Study of Latin Hymns 

the Confessors, three ; the Angels, two ; and the Apostles, 
one. Of the two remaining, one is "XJrbs coelestis Jerusa- 
lem" and the other for use at the dedication of a church. 
Of the one hundred and fifty-nine hymns not included 
in every volume, twenty-seven appear three times, thirty- 
three twice and ninety-seven only once. The demands of 
especial occasions and seasons and the many definite cele- 
brations of Saints' days govern the arrangement. 

IV 

Dates of Published Translations 

With the revival of the study of primitive hymnody 
numerous translations into modern languages were made, 
especially into German and English; of the latter the 
following are the most noteworthy. 

In 1 83 1 the Rev. Isaac Williams published a volume 
containing twelve hymns. 

In 1837 Chandler's collection of one hundred and eight 
hymns appeared. 

In 1839, Hymns from the Paris Breviary by Williams 
came out. 

In 1845, the Rev. John Williams, afterwards Bishop 
of Connecticut, published a volume of forty translations. 

In 1849 Caswell who left the Church of England at 
the time that Newman did, brought out all the hymns of 
the Roman Breviary and Missal in an English version. 

In 1 85 1 and 1852 Neale published his first translations 
and in 1858, his famous Rhythms of Bernard of Clairvaux 
on the Celestial Country. 



A Study of Latin Hymns 75 

In 1858 appeared The Voice of Christian Life in Song 
by Mrs. Charles. 

In 1889 Duffield's Latin Hymn-Writers and their 
Hymns was published containing many original transla- 
tions. 

English translations from various sources have appeared 
from time to time in periodicals but the best of these 
as well as of those of the authors mentioned above are 
found in modern hymnals. 

V 

The Seven Great Hymns 

The seven great hymns according to Noyes who pub- 
lished them with English versions in 1865 are: 

"Vexilla Regis" Fortunatus 

"Veni, Creator Spiritus" Gregory the Great 

"Veni, Sancte Spiritus" Hermann or Robert 

"Laus Patriae Coelestis" Bernard of Cluny 

"Stabat Mater Dolorosa" Jacoponus 

"Mater Speciosa" Uncertain authorship 

"Dies Irae, Dies ilia" Thomas of Celano 

VI 

"Le Paroissien Note" 

"Le Paroissien Note" contains the Mass, prayers for 
confession and preparation for the Holy Communion, the 



76 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Way of the Cross, and the services for Holy days and 
Saints' days of the Church year. 

It has the music written on a four-lined staff with 
neumae for unison or one-voiced singing, for all the 
chants and hymns, of which it contains the following 
number : 

Hymns, sixty-three 

Anthems (Antiphonal Chants), thirty-one 

Psalms, twenty-seven 

Prosaej ten 

Canticles, four 

Motets, four 

Responses, three 

Prayers (to be sung by the choir), two 
and two numbers unclassified, 

O filii et filiae 
and the impressive 

Rorate. 

The list given above is indexed. 

More than one musical form is provided for many of 
the Chants, thus giving some freedom of choice. 

VII 

Hymns of the "Coeleste Palmetum" 

Of the thirty-eight hymns, not previously listed, from 
the "Coeleste Palmetum" and the "Officium Majoris 
Hebdomadae" the "Crux fidelis" and the "0 Rcdemp- 
tor" are from the latter. 



A Study of Latin Hymns 77 

Classification by subject 

To the Virgin Mary, twelve 
To the Saviour, nine 
Of these 

To his Sacred Heart, two 

To the Wounds, one 

To the Cross, one 
To SS. Joachim and Anna, two 
To St. Joseph, two 
One each to the following 
The Holy Spirit 
The Blessed Trinity 
The Holy Angels 
The Patriarchs 
The Prophets 
The Apostles 
The Martyrs 
The Confessors 
The Holy Virgins 
All Saints 

The Faithful Departed 
St. Barbara 
SS. Ignatius and Xavier 

VIII 

Plain Chant 

Every note in plain song is equal and short. Syllables 
of words and natural pauses in the verse and at the end 
of verse give the music its rhythm and phrasing. It is 



78 A Study of Latin Hymns 

neither chant nor recitative, but a true melody designed 
for singing in unison. 
Sequential 

"Haec proprie est sequentia : neuma sive 
prolongatio ultimae syllabae Tou Alleluia." 

Neale 



ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS 
DIES IRAE 

AND 
A LITERAL TRANSLATION IN THE FEWEST WORDS POSSIBLE 



Dies irae, dies ilia 
Solvet saeclum in favilla 
Teste David cum Sibylla. 



O Day of wrath, that day, 
When earth shall pass away 
Prophet and sibyl say. 



Quantus tremor est futurus 
Quando iudex est venturus, 
Cuncta stride discussurus! 



The trembling cry 
The Judge draws nigh 
Each soul to try. 



Tuba, mirum spargens sonum 
Per sepulcra regionum, 
Coget omnes ante thronum. 



The last trump's knell 
From gates of Hell 
Shall all compel. 



Mors stupebit, et natura, 
Quum resurget creatura 
Iudicanti responsura. 



Death they surprise 
And Nature wise 
When all arise. 



Liber scriptus proferetur, 
In quo totum continetur, 
Ur.de mundus iudicetur. 



The Book is there 
Which all lays bare 
To Justice fair. 



Iudex ergo cum sedebit, 
Quidquid latet, apparebit, 
Nil inultum remanebit. 



That Judgment Throne 
Where all's made known 
Will nought condone. 



Quid sum miser tunc dicturus, 
Quern patronum rogaturus, 
Cum vix iustus sit securus? 



What shall I say 
On that dread day 
When just men pray: 



79 



8o 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Rex tremendae maiestatis, 
Qui salvandos salvas gratis, 
Salva me, fons pietatis! 



A Saviour be, 

O King! Grant me 

Thy pardon free. 



Recordare, Iesu pie, 

Quod sum causa tuae viae, 

Ne me perdas ilia die! 



Can He forget 
The woes He met 
To pay my debt? 



Quacrens me sedisti lassus, 
Redemisti crucem passus: 
Tantus labor non sit cassus! 



Let not Thy pain 
My soul to gain 
Be all in vain. 



Iuste iudex ultionis, 
Donum fac remissionis 
Ante diem rationis! 



O wash away 
My sin I pray 
Before that day. 



Ingemisco tanquam reus, 
Culpa rubet vultus meus; 
Supplicanti parce, Deus! 

Qui Mariam absolvisti, 
Et latronem exaudisti, 
Mihi quoque spem dedisti. 

Preces meae non sunt dignae 
Sed tu bonus fac benigne 
Ne perenni cremer igni. 

Inter oves locum praesta 
Et ab haedis me sequestra 
Statuens in parte dextra. 

Confutatis maledictis, 
Flammis acribus addictis, 
Voca me cum benedictis! 

Ora supplex et acclinis, 
Cor contritum quasi cinis, 
Gere cur am mei finis! 



I groan with shame 
My guilt to name; 
The lost reclaim. 

With Mary shriven, 
The thief forgiven, 
My hope has risen. 

hear my cry 
Forbid that I 
Forever die. 

The chosen band, 
Thy sheep, shall stand 
At thy right hand. 

Their end is nigh 
Who love a lie. 
Call me on high. 

1 humbly pray 
Be thou my stay 
Upon that day. 



A Study of Latin Hymns 81 

Lacrymosa dies ilia, O Day of woe 

Qua resurget ex favilla When man shall go 

Iudicandus homo reus: From out the tomb 

Huic ergo parce, Deus! To meet his doom. 

Pie Iesu domine, O Jesu blest, 

Dona eos requie! Grant me Thy rest 

Amen. Amen. 

RATIO 

MARIAE, SCOTIAE REGINAE* 

O Lord, my God! 

Long have I hoped in Thee ; 
My blessed Lord! 

Quickly deliver me: 
In tedious chains, 
In bitterest pains, 

To Thee would I flee; 
Failing and fainting I cry 
Low at Thy feet I lie 

Adoring. 

Imploring, 
O bid me come to Thee! 

DE RESURRECTIONE 

(OF JESUIT ORIGIN) 

AND 

A FREE ENGLISH TRANSLATION 

Plaudite coeli Applaud ye blue 

Rideat aether and smiling skies. 



♦Latin text and another English version on page 65. 



82 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Summus et imus 
Gaudeat orbis! 

Transivit atrae 
Turba procellae: 

Subiit almae 
Gloria palmae! 

Surgite verni, 

Surgite flores, 
Germina pictis 

Surgite camp is, 
Teneris mixtae 

Violis rosae 
Candida sparsis 

Lilia calthis! 



Let the earth 

to joy arise, 
Far the frowning 

storm clouds flee. 
Wave the palms 

of victory. 

Rise Spring, burst 

forth in bloom, 
Paint the awakening 

fields with green. 
Weave a carpet 

in your loom 
Of violets rare 

and roses bright 
And lilies many-hued 

and white. 



Currite plenis, 

Carmina, venis! 
Fundite laetum, 

Barbytha, metrum 
Namque revixit, 

Sicuti dixit, 
Pius illaesus 

Funere Iesus! 



Give songs of joy 

free rein, 
Pour out ye lutes 

the glad refrain. 
For He is living, 

as he said. 
Our holy Lord unharmed 

is risen from the dead. 



Plaudite montes, 

Ludite fontes; 
Resonent valles, 

Repetunt colles: 
Io revixit, 

Sicuti dixit, 
Pius illaesus 

Funere lesus! 



Applaud ye mountains 

and play ye fountains ; 
While happy valleys cry 

and echoing hills reply, 
Lo! He is living 

as He said, 
Our holy Lord, unharmed, 

is risen from the dead. 



INDEX OF LATIN HYMNS 

FROM THE COLLECTIONS 

OF 

MARCH, DANIEL, MONE, AND DUFFIELD 

SAINT BASIL'S HYMNAL 

LE PAROISSIEN NOTE 

AND 
THE ROMAN BREVIARY 

AND 

PSALMS AND CANTICLES 

FROM THE VULGATE EDITION OF THE 

HOLY BIBLE 



INDEX OF LATIN HYMNS 



FIRST LINES OR TITLES 

Ad coeli clara 

Ad coenam Agni providi 

Adeste fideles 

Adesto sancta Trinitaa 
Adjuvent nos eorum 
Adoro Te devote 
Ad perenni8 vitae fontem 
Ad regias Agni dopes 
Adstant angelorum ohori 

Adveraa mundi tolera 

Aestimavit ortolanum 
Aeterna Christi. .Apostolorum 
Aeterna Christi. .Et gloriam 

Aeterna Christi. .Et martyrum 
Aeterna ooeli gloria 

Aeteme rerum Conditor 
Aeterne Bex altissime 

Ah, homo perpende fragilis 

Agni paschalis 

Agnosoat omne saeoulum 

Agnus Dei in pasoha 
Ales diei nuntius 
Alleluia! Alleluia! flnita jam 
Alleluia dulce carmen 
Alleluia piis edite laudibus 

Alpha et Omega, magne Deus 
Altitudo, quid hie jaoes 
Alto ex Olympo vertioe 
Amans volat 



SOURCE 


COLLECTION 


Early Irish 


March 


Ambrosian 


March 


XV or XVI Cen- 




tury 


Stead 


XIV Century 


Daniel IV 


XII Century 


Duffleld 


Thomas Aquinas 


March 


Pietro Damiani 


March 


Roman Breviary 


March 


Thomas a Kem- 




pis 


March 


Thomas a Kem- 




pis 


March 


XTV Century 


Daniel I 


Roman Breviary 


Daniel I 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Ambrosian 


March 


Ambrosian 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Ambrose 


March 


Gregory 


Daniel I and 




rv 


Canisius 


Duffleld 




Daniel V 


Portunatus 


Daniel I and 




IV 


XIII Century 


Mone I 


Prudentius 


March 


XII Century 


Daniel n 


XI Century 


March 


Mozarabic Brev- 


March 


iary 




Hildebert 


March 


Jesuit 


Daniel II 


Roman Breviary 


Daniel I 


Thomas a Kem- 




pis 


Duffleld 



85 



86 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Angelus ad Virginem 
Angulare fundamentum 

Anima Christi, sanctified me 
Animae sacra solemnia 
Anna, Mater pie, ave 
Annue Christe, saeculorum 

Antiphona de Spiritu Sancto 
Antra deserti teneris 
Apparebit repentina magna dies 
Arte mira, miro consilio 
A solis ortu cardine Ad usque 
A solis ortu cardine Et usque 
Aspice infami Deus ipse ligno 

Athleta Christi nobilis 

Attolle paulum lumina 

Audi, benigne Conditor 
Audi nos, Bex Christe 
Audi, tellus, audi 

Aurea luce et decore roseo 
Aurora coelum purpurat 
Aurora jam spargit polum 

Aurora lucis rutilat 

Ave caput Christi gratum 

Ave oaro Christi cara 

Ave Christi corpus verum 

Ave dies fulgentior 

Ave Hierarchia 

Ave maris stella 

Ave maris stella nostrum cor 

Ave Martha 

Ave Martha gloriosa 

Ave Mater qua natus est orbis 

Pater 
Ave mitis Imperatrix 
Ave Porta Paradisi 
Ave quern desidero 
Ave Regina coelorum 



VII or VIII Cen- 




tury 


March 


Unknown date 


Daniel I 




Mone III 




Mone III 


XIV or XV Cen- 




tury 


Daniel I 


Warnefried 


Daniel I 


VII Century 


March 


UnknoAvn 


March 


Sedulius 


March 


Ambrosian 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro 




manum 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro 




manum 


XVI or XVII 




Century 


Daniel II 


Gregory 


March 


XI Century 


Daniel IV 


XI Century 


Daniel I anc 




IV 


Elpis 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Daniel I 


Ambrosian 


Daniel I anc 




IV 


Ambrosian 


March 


Gregory XI 


Mone I 


MS. XIV Cen- 




tury 


Daniel I 


MS. XIV Cen- 




tury 


Mone I 




Mone 




Mone II 


X Century 


March 




Mone II 




Mone III 




Mone III 




Mone II 




Mone II 




Mone II 




Mone 


Franciscan 




Breviary 


Daniel II 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



87 



Ave Bex qui descendisti 
Ave Verbum incarnatum 
Beata Christi passio 
Beata nobis gaudia 
Beate pastor Petre 

Bella dum late 



XIV Century 

XV Century 
Bonaventura 
Ambrosian 
Roman Breviary 

Roman Breviary 



Benedicta semper est 
Contemns cuncti melodium nunc Notker 
Celsorum civium inclyta gaudia Hereford Hym- 
nal 
Chorus novae Jerusalem Pulbert 



Christe coelestis medicina 

Christe cunctorum dominator 
Christe lumen perpetuum 
Christe precamur annue 
Christe qui lux es et dies 
Christe Rex coeli 
Christe Salvator omnium 
Christe sanctorum decus 



Mozarabic Brev- 
iary 
Ambrosian 
Ennodius 
Bnnodius 
Ambrosian 
Ambrosian 
Ennodius 
Rabanus 



Christi corpus Ave Anselm 

Christi corpus Ave sancta de Anselm 

Christo profusum sanguinem Roman Breviary 

Christum ducem qui per crucem Bonaventura 

Circa thronum majestatis Adam of St. Vic- 
tor 

Coelestis formam gloriae Sarum Breviary 



Coelestis urbs Jerusalem 
Coeli Deus sanctissime 
Coelitum Joseph decus 

Coelos ascendit hodie 
Collaudemus Magdalena 

Consors paterni luminis 

Corde natus ex parentis 
Cor meum Tibi dedo 
Creator alme siderum 



Roman Breviary 
Ambrosian 
Roman Breviary 

XV Century 
XIV Century 

Ambrose 

Prudentius 

Roman Breviary 



Mone I 
Daniel II 
March 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel 
March 

Daniel IV 
Daniel I and 
IV 

Daniel I 
March 
Duffleld 
Duffleld 
March 
Daniel I 
Duffleld 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Daniel II 
Mone 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 

March 

Daniel I and 

IV 
Duffleld 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Daniel I and 

IV 
March 
Daniel II 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Credere quid dubitem 
Crucem pro nobis subUt 
Grudelis Herodes Deum 

Crux Ave benedicta 
Cultor Dei memento 

Cum revolvo toto corde 
Our mundus militat 
Cur relinquis Deus caelum 
Da puer plectrum 
Decora lux aeternitatis 

Deo voto fuit nata 
Desere jam anima 
Deus Creator omnium 
Deus-Homo Rex coelorum 
Deus Pater ingenite 
Deus tuorum militum 

Devote, corde et anima 
Dies ilia dies vitae 
Dies irae dies ilia 

Dignare me O Jesu rogo Te 
Domare cordis impetus 
Dormi Fili dormi 
Dulce Jesu spes pauperis 

Dum noote pulsa Lucifer 

Ecce jam noctis tenuatur 
Eoce tempus idoneum 
Eoquis binas columbinas 
Egregie doctor Paulus 

Eia recolamua laudibua 
En ut superba crimina 
Exite Sion filiae 

Ex more docti mystico 

Exultet orbis gaudUs 

Felix dies qua Sancta Theresa 



Marbod 
Bonaventura 
Roman Breviary 

Jesuit 
Prudentius 

Gonella 
Jacoponus 
Jesuit 
Prudentius 
Roman Breviary 



Anselm of Lucca 

Ambrose 

Marbod 

Hilary 

Ambrosian 



Gonella 

Thomas of Cel- 
ano 

Urban VJJI 

Jesuit 

Bernard of Clair- 

vaux 
Roman Breviary 

Gregory 

Gregory 

Jesuit 

Roman Breviary 

Notker 

Roman Breviary 

Roman Breviary 

Gregory 

Roman Breviary 

Roman Breviary 



March 
March 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
March 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Daniel IV 
March 
Daniel IV 
March 
St Basil's 

Hymn Book 
Mone III 
March 
March 
March 
March 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
Mone 
Daniel IV 

March 
Daniel II 
Daniel IV 
Daniel IV 

March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
Daniel I 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
Daniel H 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel I and 

IV 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



89 



Festivis resonent compita 

Fortem virili pectore 

Fulgentis auctor aetheris 
Forti tegente brachio 
Gaude felix Anna 
Gauds Maria templum 
Gaude Maria virgo Dei gene- 

trix 
Gaude mortalitas 

Gaude virgo quae de ooelis 
Gloria laua et honor 
Grates nunc omnes reddamus 
Gravi me terrore pulsas 
Haec est dies qua candidae 
Haec est fides orthodoxa 

Haec est dies triumphalis 
Heri mundus exultavit 

Herodes hostis impie 
Heu quid jaces stabulo 
Hie breve vivitur 

Hie est dies verus Dei 

Hie est qui 

Hodiemi lux diei sacramenti 

Hominis superne Conditor 
Homo Dei oreatura 
Hora novissima tempora pes- 
sima 

Hora qui ductus tertia 
Hujus oratu Deus alma nobis 

Hymnum canamus gloriae 
Hymnum canentes martyrum 
Hymnum dicamus Domino 
Illuminans altissimus 
Immense coeli Conditor 
Imperas saxo 



Roman Breviary St. Basil's 





Hymn Book 


Antoniano 


St. Basil's 




Hymn Book 


Ambrose 


March 


Charles Coffin 


Duffleld 




Mone III 




Mone II 




Mone II 


Peter the Ven- 




erable 


March 




Mone H 


Theodulph 


March 


Notker 


March 


Pietro Damiani 


March 


Hildebert 


March 


Urban VIII 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


XV Century 


Daniel IV 


Adam of St. Vic- 




tor 


March 


Sedulius 


March 


Mauburn 


March 


Bernard of 




Cluny 


March 


Mozarablc Brev- 




iary 


March 


Alain of Lisle 


March 


Trondhjem Mis- 




sal 


Daniel V 


Roman Breviary 


March 


Ryckel 


Daniel IV 


Bernard of 




Cluny 


March 


Bonaventura 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Bede 


March 


Bede 


March 


Ambrosian 


March 


Ambrosian 


March 


Gregory 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 



go 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



In monte olivis 

In profunda noctis umbra 



Boman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 
manum 
In sapientia disponens omnia XII Century Mone I 

Adam of St. Vic- 
tor Daniel II 



Interni festi gaudia 
Invicte martyr unicum 
Invictus heros Numinis 
Ira justa Conditoris 
Iste confessor Domini 
*Jam Christus astra 
Jam faces Motor 



Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Roman Breviary St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
Ambrosian Daniel I and 

rv 

Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
XV Century Mone 

Ambrosian Daniel I and 

IV 
Hilary Duffleld 

PrudentiuB March 

Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Ambrosian March 

Roman Breviary Daniel I 
Ambrosian Daniel I and 

. IV 
Roman Breviary Daniel IV 
Thomas a Kem- 

pis Mone I 

Ambrosian Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Ambrosian Daniel I and 

rv 

Bernard of Clair- 

vaux March 

Bernard of Clair- 

vaux March 

XII Century Daniel IV 

Freiburg Brevi- Breviarum Ro- 

ary manum 
•I and J are often interchanged in mediaeval Latin. 



Jam laudemus 

Jam lucis orto sidere 

Jam meta noctis transiit 
Jam moesta quiesce querela 
Jam morte victor 

Jain sexta sensim volvitur 
Jam sol recedit igneus 
Jam surgit hora tertia 

Jam toto subditus vesper 
Jerusalem luminosa 

Jesu corona celstor 

Jesu corona martyrum 

Jesu corona virginum 

Jesu decus angelicum 

Jesu dulcedo cordium 

Jesu dulce medicamen 
Jesu dulcis amor meus 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Jesu dulcis memoria 

Jesu meae deliciae 
Jesu nostra redemptio 
Jesu Redemptor omnium Per- 
pes 

Jesu Redemptor omnium quern 
Jesu Rex admirabilis 

Jesu spes poenitentibus 

Kyrie cuncti potens Genitor 
Lauda mater Ecclesia 

Lauda Sion Sdlvatorem 

Laus Tibi sit 

Legis figuris pingitur 

Lucis Creator optime 
Lucis largitor splendide 
Lumen pium divinum 
Lustra sex qui jam peregit 
Lux alma Jesu mentium 

Lux eoce surgit aurea 
Lux O decora 

Magnae Deus potentiae 
Majestati sacrosanctae 
Maria castis oculis 

Martinae celebri plaudite 

Martyr Dei Venantius 

Martyris ecce dies Agathae 
Matris sub alma 

Mediae noctis tempus est 
Media vita in morte sumus 
Memento rerum Conditor 
Me receptet Sion ilia 
Miris modis repente liber 

Mittit ad virginem 



Bernard of Clair- 

vaux March 

Jesuit Daniel II 

Ambrosian March 



X or XI Century 


Daniel I and 




IV 


Roman Breviary 


Daniel I 


Bernard of Clair- 




vaux 


March 


Bernard of Clair- 




vaux 


March 




Mone 


Odo of Cluny 


Daniel I and 




IV 


Thomas Aquinas 


March 




Mone 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro - 




manum 


Gregory 


March 


Hilary 


March 




Mone 


Portunatus 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Prudentius 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Ambrosian 


March 


XII Century 


Daniel V 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Urban VIII 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Damasus 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Ambrosian 


March 


Notker 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Daniel I 


Hildebert 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Abelard 


March 



92 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Moerentea oouli spargite 

Mortis portis fractis fortis 

Mundi renovatio 

My8terium mirablle 

Nate Patri coaequalia 

Nee quisquam ooulis videt 

Noote aurgentea vigilemus 

omnes 
Nov, illam crucians 

Novum sidus exoritur 
Nox atra rerum contegit 

Nox et tenebrae et nubila 

Nulli8 te genitor blanditis 

Nunc Sancte nobis Spiritus 

Nuntium vobis fero de supernls 
O beata beatorum martyrum 
O benigniasime Jesu Chriate 
Obduxere polum nubila coeli 

O bona patria 
O colenda Deitas 

O Deua ego amo Te Nee amo 
O Deua ego amo Te Nee prior 
O Deua optime 
O Domine Deua aperavi 

O eaca viatorum 

O filii et filiae 

O gens beata coelitum 

O gente felix hospita 

O gloriosa femina 
O glorioaa virginum 

ignia Spiritua Paracliti 



Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Peter the "Ven- 




erable 


March 


Adam ef St Vic- 




tor 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Hildebert 


March 


Thomas a Kem- 




pls 


Mone I 


Gregory 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


XV Century 


Daniel rv 


Gregory 


Daniel I and 




TV 


Prudentius 


Daniel I and 




rv 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Ambrosian 


Daniel I and 




rv 


Fulbert 


March 


XIV Century 


Daniel II 




Mone I 


Ambrosian 


Daniel I and 




rv 


Bernard of Cluny 


March 


Conrad of Gam- 




ing 


Mone I 


Xavier 


March 


Xavier 


Daniel II 




Stead 


Mary Queen of 




Scots 


March 


Jesuit 


March 


XII Century 


March 


Jesuit 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Portunatus 


Daniel I 


Roman Breviary 


St. Basil' s 




Hymn Book 


Hildegard 


Daniel V 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



93 



O Jesu Dulcissime cibus salu- 

taris 
O Jesu mi dulcissime 

O lux beata coelitum 

lux beata Trinitas 
miranda vanitas 

Omni die die Mariae 

Omnis expertem maculae 

Omnis mundi creatura 
O nata lux de lumine Jesu 

nimis felix meritique celsi 
panis dulcissime 



Pater sancte mitis 

Opes decusque regium 

Praesul beatissime 
Optatus votis omnium 
quanta qualia sunt ilia 
qui supernae gaudia 

quot undis lacrymarwn 

rex aeterne Domine 

Omarunt terram germina 

O sacerdotum veneranda jura 

salutaris hostia 

O sancta mundi Domina 
sanctissima piissima 

O sola magnarum urbium 
sol salutis intimis 

stella Jacob fulgida 

O stella sancta Anna 



XV Century 
Bernard of Clair- 

vaux 
Roman Breviary 

Ambrose 
Bernard of Clair- 

vaux 
Casimir 

Roman Breviary 

Alain of Lisle 
Sarum Breviary 

Paul the. Deacon 
XII or XIII Cen- 
tury 

XV Century 

Urban VIII 



Ambrosian 
Abelard 
Roman Breviary 

Roman Breviary 

Ambrosian 

Abelard 

Paris Breviary 

XV Century 



Prudentius 
Roman Breviary 



Roman Breviary 



Mone I 

March 

St. Basil's 
Hymn Book 
March 

March 

Daniel II and 

IV 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Daniel I 

Daniel II and 

V 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Mone 
March 
Duffield 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
March 
March 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
Mone 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Mone IH 



94 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



O ter foecundas O ter jocundas 
O Trinitas laudabilis 
O vos omnes qui transitis 
Pange lingua, .corporis mys- 

terium 
Pange lingua . . diei praeconium 
Pange lingua, .lauream cer- 

taminis 

Pange lingua. .Magdalena 
Pange lingua, .proelium 
Paraclitus increatus 
Parvulus nobis nascitur 
Parvum quando cerno Deum 
Paschale mundo gaudium 

Paschalis festi gaudium 
Pater superni luminis 
Patris sapientia 

Paule doctor egregie 
Placare Christe servulis 

Plaude festivo 

Plaudite coeli 

Plausu chorus laetabundo 

Pone luctum Magdalena 
Post facta celsa Conditor 
Potestate non natura 

Praeclara custos virginum 

Praecursor alius luminis 
Primo die quo Trinitas 

Puer natus in Bethlehem 
Puer nobis nascitur 



Pugnate Christi milites 
Quaenam lingua tibi O lancea 



Quam dilecta tabernacula 
Quern nunc virgo peperit 



Jesuit 


March 




Mone I 




Mone 


Thomas Aquinas 


March 




Mone 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Sarum Breviary 


Daniel 


Fortunatus 


March 


Hildebert 


March 


XVII Century 


Mone 


XVI Century 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Pietro Damiani 


March 


Bellarmine 


Daniel IV 


Benedict XII 


Daniel I and 




IV 


Pietro Damiani 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Jesuit 


March 


Adam of St. Vic- 


Daniel II and 


tor 


V 


Jesuit 


March 


Bede 


Mone I 


Adam of St. Vic- 




tor 


March 


Servite Breviary 


St. Basil's 




Hymn Book 


Bede 


Daniel I 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


XV Century 


March 


XIV or XV Cen- 




tury 


Daniel I and 




IV 


Paris Breviary 


Duffield 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Adam of St. Vic- 




tor 


March 




Mone II 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



95 



Quantum hatnum caritas 
Quern terra pontus aethera 

Quern terra pontus sklera 

Quicunque certum, quaeritis 

Quicunque Christum quaeritis 
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus 
Quid tyranne quid minaris 
Qui mutare solet 

Qui procedis ab utroque 

Quis novus coelis 

Qui sunt isti 

Quodcunque in orbe nexibus 

Quo me Deus amove 
Quum sit omnis homo 

Recolamus sacvam coenam 
Recovdave sanctae crucis 
Rector Potens verax Deus 

Regali solio fovtis Iberiae 

Regina coeli laetave 
Regis supevni nuntia 

Revum Cveatov omnium Te 

Revum, Cveatov optime 
Revum Deus tenax vigov 

Rex Deus immensi 
Rex gloviose martyvum 

Rex gloviose Pvaesulum 

Rex sempitevne coelitum 

Sacvae Chvisti celebvemus 

covonae 
Sacva jam splendent 



Bonaventura 
Fortunatus 

Roman Breviary 

Franciscan 

Breviary 
Prudentius 
Roman Missal 
Pietro Damiani 
Roman Breviary 

Adam of St. Vic- 
tor 
Roman Breviary 



Roman Breviary 

Jesuit 

Bernard of Clair- 

vaux 
XIV Century 
Bonaventura 
Ambrosian 

Urban VIII 

XIV Century 
Urban VIII 

Orarium (Eng- 
land) 
Ambrosian 
Ambrosian 



Eugenius 
Gregory 



Roman Breviary 
Roman Breviary 



March 

Daniel I and 

IV 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel I 
Duffleld 
March 
Breviarum Ro« 

manum 

March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel IV 

March 
Daniel V 
March 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel II 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 

Duffleld 

Daniel I 

Daniel I and 
IV 

March 

Breviarum Ro- 
ma num 

Breviarum Ro- 
manum 

Breviarum Ro- 
manum 



Mone 
Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 
manum 



96 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Sacris solemniis juncta sint 
Saepe dum Christi populus 

Saevo dolorum turbine 

Salus aeterna indeficiens mundi 

Salutis aeternae dator 

Salutis humanae sator 
Salvator mundi domine 

Salve caput cruentatum 

Salve crux arbor 

Salve festa dies . . Qua Deus 
de coelo 

Salve festa dies.. Qua Deus 
ecclesiam 

Salve festa dies. .Qua Deus 

infernum 
Salve festa dies . . Qua sponso 

Salve Jesu pastor bone 

Salve Jesu Rex sanctorum 

Salve Jesu summe bonus 

Salve mundi salutare 

Salve Regina mater miseri- 

cordiae 
Salve sancta caro Dei 
Salve sancta fades 



Salve sancta parens 
Salvete Christi vulnera 
Salvete clavis et lancea 

Salvete flores martyrum 



Thomas Aquinas 


Daniel I 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Sarum Missal 


Daniel II and 




V 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Roman Breviary 


Daniel I 


VI or VII Cen- 




tury 


Daniel I and 




IV 


Bernard of Clair- 




vaux 


March 


Adam of St. Vic- 




tor 


Duffleld 


York Processi- 




onal 


Daniel II 


York Processi- 




onal 


Daniel II 


Fortunatus 


March 


York Processi- 




onal 


Daniel II 


Bernard of Clair- 




vaux 


Daniel IV 


Bernard of Clair- 




vaux 


Daniel IV 


Bernard of Clair- 




vaux 


Daniel IV 


Bernard of Clair- 




vaux 


March 


Hermann 


Duffield 


XII Century 


Mone I 


Aegidius of Bur- 




gos 


Daniel I, II, 




IV and V 


Sedulius 


March 


Roman Breviary 


Daniel II 


Roman Breviary 


Breviarum Ro- 




manum 


Prudentius 


March 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



97 



Salve tropaeum gloria 
Sancta Mater 

Sancte Spiritus adsit nobis 
Sancti venite Christi corpus 

Sanctorum meritis inclyta 
gaud'ia 

Sanctus genitor omnium in- 

genitus 
Sedibus coeli nitibus 

Sic patres vitam 

Sicut chorda musicorum 

Simplex in essentia 

Si vis vere gloriari 
Somno refectis artubus 

Spes nostra salus nostra 
Spiritus sancti gratia 
Splendor paternae gloriae 
Squalent arva soli pulvere 
Stabat mater dolorosa 
Stabat mater speciosa 
Stella maris O Maria 
Stupete gentes Fit Deus hostia 
Siimmae Deus clementiae 
Mundique 

Summae Deus clementiae Sep- 
tem 

Summae parens clementiae 

Summi parentis filio 

Summi parentis unice 

Summi Regis cor aveto 



Bede 

Roman Breviary 



Notker 
Early Irish 



VI — IX Century 



Roman Breviary 
Roman Breviary 

Adam of St. Vic- 
tor 

Adam of St. Vic- 
tor 

Sarum Missal 
Ambrosian 



Ambrose 
Ambrose 
Jacoponus 
Jacoponus 

Jean Santeul 

Ambrosian 

Roman Breviary 

Roman Breviary 

P ranciscan 

Breviary 
Roman Breviary 

Bernard of Clair- 
vaux 



March 

Breviarum Ro- 
manian 

Mone I 

Daniel I and 
IV 

Daniel I and 
IV 

Mone 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 

March 

Daniel II and 

V 
Daniel V 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Mone I 
Daniel I 
March 
March 
March 
March 
Mone II 
Duffield 

Breviarum Ro- 
manum 

Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 

March 



98 



A Study of Latin Hymi 



Summis ad astra 

Surrexit Christus hodie 

Tandem audite me 

Te deprecante corporum 

Te dicimus praeconio 

Te gestientem 

Te homo laudet alme Creator 
Te Joseph celebrent 

Telluris alme Conditor 
Telluris ingens Conditor 
Tellus et aethra jubilent 

Te lucis ante terminum 
Te mater alma numinis 

Te matrem laudamus virginem 

Terit mola farinula 

Terret me dies terroris 

Te splendor et virtus Patris 

Te Trinitas Unitas 

Tibi Christe splendor Patris 



Roman Breviary 

XIV Century 

Jesuit 

Roman Breviary 

Roman Breviary 

Roman Breviary 

Alcuin 

Roman Breviary 

Roman Breviary 
Ambrosian 
Plavius of 

Chalons 
Ambrosian 
Roman Breviary 



XV Century 

Gonella 

Roman Breviary 

Ambrosian 
Rabanus 



Tinctam ergo Christi sanguine Roman Breviary 



Trinitas Unitas Deitas 
Tristes erant apostoli 
Tu natale solum protege 

Tu qui velatus facie 
Turbam jacentem pauperum 

Turtur inane nescit amare 
Tu Trinitatis Unitas nam 



Pierre de Corbeil 
Ambrosian 
Roman Breviary 

Bonaventura 
Roman Breviary 

Hildebert 
Ambrosian 



Tu Trinitatis Unitas orbem Roman Breviary 



Unde planctus et lamentum 
Urbs beata Jerusalem 
Urbs Sion aurea 
Urbs Sion inclyta 



XV Century 
VIII Century 
Bernard of Cluny 
Bernard of Cluny 



Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
St. Basil's 

Hymn Book 
Daniel I 
March 

Daniel I 
Daniel I 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Mone II 

Duffield 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Mone I 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel V 
Daniel I 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
Daniel I and 

IV 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel I 
March 
March 
Marotv 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



99 



Ut nunc ab alto 

Ut queant laxis resonare fibris 
Veni Creator Spiritus Mentes 
Vent Creator Spiritus Recrea- 
tor 

Veni jam veni 
Veni Redemptor gentium 
Veni Sancte Spiritus 
Venit e coelo Mediator alto 

Veni veni Emmanuel 

Verbum a Patre prodiens 
Verbum Dei Deo natum 
Verbum supernum A Patre 
Verbum supernum E Patris 
Verbum supernum prodiens Nee 
Vexilla Regis prodeunt 
Victimae paschali laudes 

Virgini Mariae laudes 
Virginis in gremio 
Virginis proles. .Haec 

Virginis proles . . Hujus 

Virgo plorans 

Virgo virginum praeclara 

Vita nostra plena bellis 
Vix in sepulcro 

Zyma vetus expurgetur 



Roman Breviary Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Paul the Deacon March 
Gregory March 



Adam of St. Vic- 
tor 

XI Century 
Ambrose 
Hermann 
Roman Breviary 

XII Century 

XIV Century 

Ambrosian 
Roman Breviary 
Thomas Aquinas 
Fortunatus 
Notker 



XV Century 
Roman Breviary 



IX Century 



Notker 

John of Geissel 



Alain of Lisle 
Roman Breviary 



Adam of St. : Vic- 
tor 



March 
Duffield 
March 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel II and 

rv 

Mone I 

March 

Daniel I 

Daniel I 

Daniel I 

March 

Daniel II and 

III 
Mone II 
Daniel V 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
Daniel 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 
March 
Breviarum Ro- 

manum 

Daniel II and 
V 



IOO A Study of Latin Hymns 

SUPPLEMENT 

March's Latin Hymns 

Arx firma Deus noster est Luther-Buttmann 

Jesus pro me perforatus Toplady-Gladstone 

The Breviarum Romanum 

Aeterne Rector siderum Bellarmine 

Aspice ut Verbum Patris 

Auctor beati saeculi 

Audiat miras audiens 

Audit tyrannus anxius Prudentis 

Aurora soli 

Christe sanctorum decus Rector 

Coelestis Agni nuptias Fr. Lorenzini 

Coelestis aulae nuntius 

Coelo Redemptor praetulit 

Corpus domas jejuniis 

Custodes hominum psallimus Bellarmine 

Dum mente Christum 

Gentis Polonae gloria 

Gloriam sacrae celebremus omnes Sindonis 

Iste quern laeti colimus fideles 



Le Paroissien Note 



Hymns 

O par ingenito 
Panis angelicus 
Tantum ergo 
Thuribii efferimus 



A Study of Latin Hymns ioi 



Prosae 

Ad Jesum accurrite 
Bone pastor 
Ecce panis 
Lauda Sion 
Tota pulchra es 
Votis Pater annuit 

Motets 

Adoremus in aeternum 

Memorare 

O Jesu 

Salus fons amoris 

Prayers 

Domine salvum 
Parce Domine 
Karate 

Responses 

Domine non secundum 
Duo seraphim 
Homo quidam 

Anthems 

Alma Redemptoris 
Beata Dei genitrix 
Beata mater 
Calicem 

Christum Regem 
Da pacem 



102 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Ego sum panis vivus 

Inviolata integra 

Miserator Dominus 

O Adonai et dux 

O clavis David 

O cor Jesu 

O Emmanuel 

O interiora sancta 

O oriens splendor 

O quam suavis est 

O radix Jesse 

O Rex gentium 

O sacrum 

O Sapientia 

Propter nimiam 

Qui pacem 

Requiescat super eum 

Sacerdos 

Sancta Maria 

Sicut novellae olivarum 

Sub tuum praesidium 

From the Coeleste Palmetum and the Officium Ma- 
joris Hebdomadae 

Hymni: — 

Ave dulcis Mater Christi 
Ave Jesu 

Coelestis aulae gloria 
Cor Jesu, cor purissimum 
Crux fidelis 



A Study of Latin Hymns ~ 103 

De Nomine Jesu 

(From stanzas not listed elsewhere) 

Amor Jesu dulcissimus 

Amor tuus continuus 

Cujus gustus sic afficit 

Jam quod quaesivi 

Jesu flos matris virginis 

Jesu in pace imperat 

Jesum quaeram in lectulo 

Jesu sole serenior 

Jesu summa benignitas 

Rex virtutum, Rex gloriae 

Salve Jesu 

Sana me et sanus ero 

Turn bam perfundam 

Tu mentis delectatio 
Domine Jesu, noverim me 
Fatalis agonis 
Gaude virgo Mater Christi 
Magne Joseph, fili David 
Nobis sancti Spiritus 
O Bina conjugalis 
O candidae Cohortes 
O Casibus probati 
O coelici Quirites 
O Digna lilietis 
O Ignati militantis 
Q Lux beata Trinitas 
O Mater, O Senatus 
O ordo Nuntiorum 
O Redemptor Patrum 



if>4 A Study of Lathi Hymns 

O sancta Turba 
O Turba laureata 
O vos fideles Animae 
Salve Area foederis 
Salve horologium 
Salve mundi Domina 
Salve Pater Salvatoris 
Salve urbs refugii 
Salve Virgo florens 
Salve Virgo puerpera 
Salve Virgo sapiens 
Salve vulnus 
Spectabilis Senecta 
Stella coeli extirpavit 
Supplices offerimus 
Vectigal hoc amor is 

INDEX PSALMORUM 

Biblia Sacra Vuigatae Editionis 

Ad Dominum Psalmus CXX 

Ad te Domine clamabo Psalmus XXVIII 

Ad te Domine levavi Psalmus XXV 

Ad te levavi oculos meos Psalmus CXXIII 

Afferte Domino Psalmus XXIX 

Attendite popule meus Psalmus LXXVIII 

Audite haec Psalmus XLIX 

Beati immaculati Psalmus CXIX 

Beati omnes Psalmus CXXVIII 

Beati quorum Psalmus XXXII 

Beatus qui intelligit Psalmus LXI 

Beatus vir qui non abiit Psalmus I 

Beatus vir qui timet Psalmus CXII 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



105 



Benedicam Dominant 


Psalmus XXXIV 


Benedic anima mea Domino et omnia 


Psalmus ClII 


Benedic anima mea Domino Do mine 


Psalmus CIV 


Benedictus Dominus 


Psalmus CXL1V 


Benedixisti Domine 


Psalmus LXXXV 


Bonum est confiteri 


Psalmus XCII 


Cant ate Domino . . . cantate 


Psalmus XCVI 


Cantate Domino . . . laus 


Psalmus CXLIX 


Cantate Domino . . . quia 


Psalmus XCVI 1 1 


Coeli enarrant 


Psalmus XIX 


Confitebimur tibi 


Psalmus LXXV 


Confitebor . . . m consilio 


Psalmus CXI 


Confitebor . . . narrabo 


Psalmus IX 


Confitebor . . . quoniam 


Psalmus CXXXVIIl 


Confitemini . . . Dicant 


Psalmus CVII 


Confitemini . . . Dicat 


Psalmus CXVIII 


Confitemini . . . et invocate 


Psalmus CV 


Confitemini . . . Quis 


Psalmus CV I 


Confitemini . . . quoniam 


Psalmus C XXXV I 


Conserva me Domine 


Psalmus XVI 


Credidi 


Psalmus CXV 


Cum itwocarem 


Psalmus IV 


De profundis 


Psalmus CXXX 


Deus auribus nostris 


Psalmus XLIV 


Deus deorum Dominus 


Psalmus L 


Deus Deus meus ad te 


Psalmus LXIII 


Deus Deus meus respice 


Psalmus XXII 


Deus in adjutorium 


Psalmus LXX 


Deus in nomine tuo 


Psalmus LIV 


Deus judicium tuum 


Psalmus LXXII 


Deus laudem meam 


Psalmus CIX 


Deus misereatur nostri 


Psalmus LXVII 


Deus noster refugium 


Psalmus XLVI 


Deus quis similis erit tibi 


Psalmus LXXXIII 


Deus repulisti nos 


Psalmus LX 


Deus stetit 


Psalmus LXXXII 


Deus ultionum 


Psalmus XCIV 



io6 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Deus venerunt gentes 


Psalmus LXXIX 


Dilexi quoniam 


Psalmus CXVI 


Diligam te Domine 


Psalmus XVIII 


Dixi Custodiam 


Psalmus XXXIX 


Dixit Dominus 


Psalmus CX 


Dixit injustus 


Psalmus XXXVI 


Dixit insipiens . . . Deus 


Psalmus LIU 


Dixit insipiens . . . Dominus 


Psalmus XIV 


Domine clamavi 


Psalmus CXLI 


Domine Deus meus 


Psalmus VII 


Domine Deus salutis 


Psalmus LXXXVIII 


Domine Dominus noster 


Psalmus VIII 


Domine exaudi . . . auribus 


Psalmus CXLIII 


Domine exaudi . . . et clamor 


Psalmus CII 


Domine in virtute tua 


Psalmus XXI 


Domine ne in furore . . Miserere 


Psalmus VI 


Domine ne in furore . . Quoniam 


Psalmus XXXVIII 


Domine non est exaltatum 


Psalmus CXXXI 


Domine probasti me 


Psalmus CXXXIX 


Domine quid multiplicati 


Psalmus HI 


Domine quis habitabit 


Psalmus XV 


Domine refugium 


Psalmus XC 


Domini est terra 


Psalmus XXIV 


Dominus illuminatio 


Psalmus XXVI 


Dominus regit me 


Psalmus XXIII 


Dominus regnavit decorum 


Psalmus XCIII 


Dominus regnavit ex suit et 


Psalmus XCVII 


Dominus regnavit irascantur 


Psalmus XCIX 


Ecce nunc benedicite 


Psalmus CXXXIV 


Ecce quam bonum 


Psalmus CXXXIII 


Eripe me de inimicis meis 


Psalmus LIX 


Eripe me Domine 


Psalmus CXL 


Eructavit cor meum 


Psalmus XLV 


Exaltabo te Deus 


Psalmus CXLV 


Exaltabo te Domine 


Psalmus XXX 


Exaudi . . . cum deprecor 


Psalmus LXIV 


Exaudi Deus deprecationem meant 


Psalmus LXI 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



107 



Exaudi Deus orationem meant 


Psalmus LV 


Ex audi Do mine 


Psalmus. XVII 


Exaudiat te Dominus 


Psalmus XX 


Expectans expectavi 


Psalmus XL 


Exsultate Deo 


Psalmus LXXXI 


Exsultate justi 


Psalmus XXXIII 


Exsurgat Deus 


Psalmus LXVIII 


Fundamenta ejus 


Psalmus LXXXVII 


Inclina Domine 


Psalmus LXXXVI 


In convertendo 


Psalmus CXXVI 


In Domino confido 


Psalmus XI 


In exitu Israel 


Psalmus CXIV 


In te Domine speravi . . . accelera 


Psalmus XXXI 


In te Domine speravi . . . et salva me 


Psalmus LXXI 


lubilate Deo . . . psalmum 


Psalmus LXVI 


lubilate Deo . . . servite 


Psalmus C 


ludica Domine 


Psalmus XXXV 


Judica me Deus 


Psalmus XLIII 


ludica me Domine 


Psalmus XXV 


Laetatus sum 


Psalmus CXXII 


Lauda anima mea 


Psalmus CXLVI 


Laudate . . . de coelis 


Psalmus CXLVIII 


Laudate . . . in Sanctis 


Psalmus CL 


Laudate . . . omnes gentes 


Psalmus CXVII 


Laudate Dominum quoniam bonus 


Psalmus CXLVI I 


Laudate nomen 


Psalmus CXXXV 


Laudate pueri 


Psalmus CXIII 


Levavi oculos meos 


Psalmus CXXI 


Magnus Dominus 


Psalmus XLVIII 


Memento Domine David 


Psalmus CXXXII 


Miserere . . . miserere 


Psalmus LVII 


Miserere . . . quoniam 


Psalmus LVI 


Miserere . . . secundum 


Psalmus LI 


Misericordiam et judicium 


Psalmus CI 


Misericordias Domini 


Psalmus LXXXIX 


Nisi Dominus 


Psalmus CXXVI I 


Nisi quia Dominus 


Psalmus CXXIV 



io8 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



Noli aemulari Psalmus XXXVII 

Nonne Deo Psalmus LXII 

Noil nobis Domine Psalmus CXV 

Notus in Judaea Deus Psalmus LXXVI 

Omnes gentes plaudit c Psalmus XLVII 

Paratum cor meum , Psalmus CVIII 

Quam bonus Israel Deus Psalmus LXXIII 

Quam dilecta Psalmus LXXXIV 

Quare fremuerunt Psalmus II 

Quemadmodum Psalmus XLII 

Qui confidunt Psalmus CXXV 

Qui habitat Psalmus XCI 

Qui regis Israel Psalmus LXXX 

Quid gloriaris Psalmus LII 

Saepe cxpugnaverunt me Psalmus CXXIX 

Salvum me fac Deus Psalmus LXIX 

Salvum me fac Domine Psalmus XII 

Si vere utique Psalmus LVIII 

Super flumina Psalmus CXXXVI1 

Te decet hymnus Psalmus LXV 

Usquequo Domine Psalmus XIII 

Ut quid Domine Psalmus LXXIV 

Ut quid Deus Psalmus X 

Venite exsultemus Psalmus XCV 

Verba mea auribus percipe Psalmus V 

Voce mea . . . ad Deum Psalmus LXXVII 

Voce mea t . . ad Dominum Psalmus CXLII 

INDEX CANTICORUM 



Audite coeli 
Cantemus Domino 
Confitebor tibi Domine 
Domine audivi 
Ego dixi 

Exultavit cor meum 
In principio creavit Deus 
Qui sponte obtuUstis 



Canticum Moysi 
Canticum Moysi 
Canticum Isaiae 
Canticum Habacuc 
Canticum Exechiae 
Canticum Annae 
Canticum Creationis 
Canticum Debborae 



Deut. 
Exod. 
Isai. 
Hab. 



XXXII 
XV 
XII 
III 



Isai. XXXVIII 
I Reg. II 

Gen. I 

Jud, V 



A Study of Latin Hymns 1 09 



APOCRYPHA 

BenedMte omnia opera Canticum trium puerorum (Dan. 3c.) 
Patrum Hymnus Eoolesiasticus XLIV 



NOVUM TESTAMENTUM 

Cantica et Hymni 

EVANGELIUM SECUNDUM LUCAM 

Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel I 68 

Magnificat anima mea I 46 

Nunc dimittis servum tuum in pace II 29 

ACTUS APOSTOLORUM 

Domine tu es qui fecisti coelum IV 4 

EPISTOLAE PAULI 

Et manijeste magnum est 
Nam si commortui sumus 
Rex regum et Dominus 
Surge qui dormis 

APOCALYPSIS 

Alleluia quoniam regnavit Dominus 

Dignus es Domine 

Dignus est Agnus 

Et Spiritus et sponsa dicunt 

Factum est regnum hujus mundi 

Gratia vobis et pax 

Ostendam tibi sponsam (Jerusalem) 

Magna et mirabilia sunt opera tua (Moysi et 

Agni) XV 3 



I Tim. 


in 16 


I Tim. 


11 


II 


I Tim. 


VI 


15 


Eph. 


V 


14 




XIX 


6 




V 


9 




V 


12 


xx: 


17 




XI 


15 




I 


4 




XXI 


9 



A Study of Latin Hymns 



CANTICA ECCLESIAE 

Credo in Deum. . .Creator em coeli et terrae 

Credo in unum Deum Patrem omnipotentem factorem 

Gloria in excelsis 

Te Deum laudamus 

Ter Sanctus 

Quicumque vult salvus esse 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Latin Text 
Latin Hymns 

F. A. March (Edition of 1879) 
Latin Hymn- Writers and their Hymns 

S. W. Duffield (Edition of 1889) 
Thesaurus Hymnologicus 

H. A. Daniel (Leipzig 1841-56) 
Volume I Hymns 
Volume II Sequences 
Volume III Hymns of the Greek and Syrian 

Churches 
Volume IV Hymns 
Volume V Sequences 
Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters 

F. J. Mone (Freiburg 1853) 
Volume I Gott und die Engel 
Volume II Marienlieder 
Volume III Heiligenlieder 
Breviarum Romanum 

Authorized Edition 
Pars Hiemalis 
Pars Verna 
Pars A estiva 
Pars Autumnalis 
Biblia Sacra 

Vulgatae Editionis 
Liber Psalmorum 

"3 



114 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Cantica et Hymni 
Ecclesiae Cantica 
Ecclesiae Symbola 
Apocrypha 

Benedicite omnia opera 
Patrum Hymnus (Ecclesiasticus) 
Carmina 

Matthiae Casimiri e Societate Jesu 
St. Basil's Hymn Book 

The Basilian Fathers 
Le Paroissien Note 

J. A. Langlais, Libraire-Editeur, 1888 
Sacred Latin Poetry 

Curtis C. Bushnell, 1902 
Agricola: Cap. 1-7 and 43-47 
Tacitus 
De Origine Spectaculorum 

Tertullianus 
Contra Symmachum 

Ambrosius 
De Idolorum Vanitate 

Cyprianus 
De Mortibus Persecutorum 

Lactantius 
Ad Magnum Oratorem Urbis Romae 

Hieronymus 
De Modo Juventutis Erudiendae 
Augustinus 



A Study of Latin Hymns 1 15 

II 

English, German and French Text 

March, Notes on Latin Hymns 

Duffield, Latin Hymn- Writers and their Hymns 

Thompson, Unknown and Less Known Hymn-Writers 

Duffield, Index to Translated Hymns 

Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus, Notes 

Neale, Sequences (An introduction to the fifth volume of 

the above) 
Mone, Lateinische Hymnen des Mittelalters 
Campbell, Latin Hymns and Hymn Makers 
Walsh, Latin Hymns of the Thirteenth Century 
Bushnell, Notes on Sacred Latin Poetry 
Stead, Notes in Hymns that have Helped 
Van Buren, Christian Hymnody, with Notes on Latin 

Hymn-Writers 
Wright, Essay on Latin Hymns, (An Introduction to the 

above ) 
Charles, The Voice of Christian Life in Song 
Encyclopedia Britannica, Latin Hymns 
Johnson, Essay on the "Dies Irae" 
Ritter, History of Music 
Anonymous, Le Paroissien Note (Roman Catholic 

Chant Book) 
Caswell, Preface to Lyra Catholica 
Neale, Primitive Liturgies: Notes to Greek originals of 

St. Mark's, St. James', St. Clement's, St. Chrysos- 

tom's, and St. Basil's 
Augustine, Exposition on the Psalms, Post-Nicene Fathers, 

Vol. VIII 



Il6 A Study of Latin Hymns 

Hilary, The Holy Trinity, Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 

IX 
Watson, Hilary's Hymns, (In the introduction to the 

above) 

English Versions Used in Comparative Study 

Lyra Apostolica 

Keble, Newman and others 
Lyra Eucharistica 

Edited by Shipley ~ 
Original Sequences and Hymns 

Neale 
Introits and Anthems 

From Hymns Ancient and Modern 
Poems 

Trench 
Catena Dominica 

Alexander 
Christ in Song 

Schaff 
Mediaeval Hymns 

Neale 
Lyra Catholica 

Caswell 
Latin Hymns 

Van Buren 
Hymnal 

Adopted by the Episcopal Church 
The English Hymnal 

Used by the Church of England 



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